Farscape Epic RPG: Ice Moon
by Chant99
Summary: Played out in my RPG: Chiana, Berret, & Rygel are held for ransom by a crafty Trader. The price for their freedom... John Crichton.
1. Foreword

THE FARSCAPE EPIC RPG UNIVERSE: NEW CHARACTERS & SETTING.  
  
Author's Note:   
  
This is the first time I'm trying this. This story was played out in my Farscape Epic RPG game on Yahoo.  
I edited together all the posts as best as I could to create the story. I also tried to keep them as close as possible to the original players posts. Sometimes I wasn't able to too and other times I was. So the story is a little rough in spots - but that is my fault and not the other players. I thought the story line was fairly good and I've referred back to this incident in other fiction, so I thought I'd try posting it.  
My co-authors for this piece are as follows:  
  
Murdough2000 - who created and owns the Andar Murdough of Shalazar character.  
  
Lonegirl189 - who created and owes the Malika Phatan character, and the Samnatha and Zanath Phatan characters, in addition to the Rahlin character who were or will be mentioned in some of the stories.  
  
GadgetGirl-Pip, also known as the infamous Lady_T - handles Aeryn Sun and most of John Crichton in this story. GG-Pip (Lady_T) is also the co-founder of our game.  
  
Dagoddda - who is no longer with the group, played D'argo's parts for most of the story.  
  
Other characters were free at this time and where written for by whatever player needed to use them.  
Arckatius was created by Chant99. Below follows the usual description of the game.  
  
This story was written based on the characters from my Farscape RPG group. I thought I'd try posting it here to see what others thought. But first I need to explain a bit about our RPG so you can follow the extra characters.  
The name of the group is "Farscape Epic RPG" and it can be found on Yahoo groups for those who wish to look us up. The game is based in an alternate Farscape universe that diverges from the shows timeline somewhere after Talyn's birth but before the Chiana/D'argo relationship.  
The Berret character here is basically the same Shrike 457 character from the "Fallen Angel" series posted here at Fanfiction.net. Though the original meeting between Chiana and the Shrike took place in a different way in the game.  
The other new characters in this story are original player characters.  
  
Andar Murdough - is a Sebacean teacher from a forgotten and lost colony. Andar's people have lost so much knowledge over the cycles that space flight is considered science fiction. Andar is abducted by aliens who experiment on his brain trying to increase intelligence. The project works much better then they thought and Andar steals a shuttle and eventually finds his way to Moya. Andar becomes a sponge for any sort of knowledge and begins to go through Moya's data banks learning everything he can. He often sees machines or gadgets in his mind and will disappear for days into his workshop to build them.  
  
Malika Phatan - is a 125-year-old Delvian teenager. After spending a number of cycles as a Peacekeeper slave aboard a command carrier, she and her mother escape in a Prowler, but at the cost of the life of a young PK officer who fell in love and secretly married Malika. After a time of running and hiding, the pair run into a Syndicate Shrike and the meeting leaves young Malika with an intense hatred and distrust for the Enforcers when the assassin kills a client Malika took a job bodyguarding for, and almost kills her and her mother in the process. Sometime after that, Malika's mother is tragically killed, leaving the girl alone. She hears a story about an escaped Leviathan with a Delvian Pa'u aboard and sets out to find the living ship with the hopes of fulfilling her mother's dream of her becoming a Pa'u. She finds Moya and Zhaan (who is alive in our game) and the older Delvian agrees to take her in. However, now there is a Shrike aboard Moya as Chiana's companion and she is having a hard time controlling the tendencies for violence she developed during the hard life she lived on the run from the Peacekeepers. Through young, Malika is also a skilled healer and thanks to her parents, an educated student of exobiology. She sets up a small lab on one of Moya's lower tiers, mostly to hide out from having to be around Berret ... and possibly Andar. Both Andar and Malika feel an attraction to each other, but the Delvian isn't sure she wants to open her heart to another after what happened to her Peacekeeper husband.   
  
Sean Crichton - 70 years after the disappearance of astronaut John Crichton, his descendant Sean uses John and DK's research to construct the Wander module. In an attempt to prove that his ancestor's theories were sound, Sean repeats the slingshot effect and is also thrown halfway across the universe only with a slightly different result. The Wander module is somehow draw backward in time to the Farscape module's location and is expelled from a wormhole near Moya. Sean finds himself stunned to be surrounded by a group of aliens and suddenly faced with a family legend. (This story takes place before the arrival of Sean Crichton.)   
  
Arckatius - The Scarren leader of the Black Syndicate House that enslaved Berret and made him a Shrike Enforcer / Assassin. Arckatius is a distant cousin of Scorpius' and is slightly demented for a Scarren, believing himself to be a "King". In "The Grandmaster", Arckatius sends his Master Shrike, Val'Cirrus after Berret to kill him and bring back his control collar - which contains information about several operations that Berret took part in for the Black Syndicate. Berret has vowed to kill the Scarren Syndicate leader in repayment for his enslavement and the life he feels that Arckatius has destroyed. Driven by the haunting nightmares of the lives he was forced to take as a Syndicate Enforcer, Berret feels that killing Arckatius will go some way in atoning for his "sins." He also holds the Scarren responsible for what he thinks as his inability to love Chiana... and that the Nebari girl could never love him in return because of the things he has done in his Syndicate past.   
  
This story takes place shortly after Berret, Andar, and Malika come aboard Moya. Moya and crew were recently ambushed by pirates and in the resulting battle; Moya was damaged and lost most of her fresh water stores. The group spends a long period of time looking for a safe place to replace their stock and finally find one.  
I thank everyone who has reviewed my stories and has like them. I wasn't sure that they would interest anyone outside my RPG but I see they have. To Miss Terri who has reviewed several of the stories and had stopped by the RPG, please feel free to join. We'll have no problem teaching you how to play the game.  
I thank you for the support and I hope I can continue to keep you all interested. Please enjoy~!  
  
Chant99 


	2. Chapter 1

Taken from the FarScape Epic RPG  
Story contributions by: GadgetGirl-Pip (Lady_T), LoneGirl189, Murdough2000, Chant99, & Dagoddda  
Edited by: Chant99  
  
  
"Aw! Come on, Zhaan!" pleaded Chiana.  
"I don't believe it would be wise," countered the tall blue woman.  
"We'll be fine. What kind of trouble could we possibly get into?" the Nebari said then realized her mistake at Zhaan's crossed look. Changing her tactics she went on.   
"It's only a re-supply run... and who else can go? Crichton and D'argo are handling the water shipment, you and Malika have to be here to take care of the new guy, and Aeryn has to stay up in command in case Peacekeepers show up," she stated as a matter of fact, while ticking the points off on gloved fingers. "That leaves me, Ryg, and 'Ret to go planet side for supplies."  
"I still don't know," wavered the Delvian. "I do not like the looks of that man that Rygel has been arranging the trade with. Something about him... distresses me."  
"Well the longer we wait here, the better the chances are that a Peacekeeper patrol might stumble over us. Besides... I'll have the Hynerian Dominar and a Shrike assassin with me. What can happen?" she added with a disarming smile.  
  
Zhaan snorted and said, "The Hynerian Dominar is only 30 hentas tall and your Shrike sometimes can not remember which boot goes on which foot. However, you made a valid point, the longer we remain here the greater the danger of being discovered." She looked the younger woman in the eye. "I will allow the three of you to go provided you promise me you will not get into trouble... that means... no stealing, no drinking, and no letting Rygel talk you into anything remotely resembling a get rich quickly scheme. You will get the supplies and return to Moya as quickly as possible."  
Looking for a microt like she was thinking about arguing about the restrictions, Chiana apparently thought better of the idea. "Okay, you won't regret it Zhaan!" she said over he shoulder as she jogged off down the corridor to find the others going planet side with her.  
"I already do, my dear," said Zhaan in a low voice to her receding back.  
  
Berret fastened the last piece of his armor on across his chest. In the weekens he'd been without it, he'd forgotten how much it weighted. He strapped on the pulse-pistol and looked sullenly at the pair of gauntlet braces laying now alone on the storage shelf. Since Zhaan had stirred up the memories of the past death that went with them he had not touch them since the Priestess had returned them, having place them at the back of the shelf, hoping to forget them. He sighed and picked the first one up. It opened immediately at his touch, sensing he intended to put it on. Placing it on his forearm, it closed around the limb. He'd already put the half gloves with the metal plate guarding the tops of his hands on, and with a thought the twin blades snapped out into the open. With growing distaste he inspected the blades and then retracted them. He did the same with its mate and looked at himself in the mirror. He'd taken to wearing a wide neck choker that the Pixie had made for him out of different bits of polished metal. The scars on his neck from the control collar only served to remind him of the beings whose lives' he had ended as a Syndicate Shrike, so he chose to cover them up as much as possible. Now the choker's metallic shine looked too much like a collar, completing the image of a controlled assassin too much for his liking. He picked up his Acquarian silk cloak and slung it in place over his shoulders, then fastened it in place. Electing not to look at himself in the mirror again, he left his quarters and head for the hanger bay to meet the others.  
  
Chiana turned as her friend strode into the hanger bay. She'd forgotten how big and menacing the armor made him look. She'd agreed with Zhaan's assessment that Rygel's contact had looked less then trustworthy, and had asked Berret to wear his armor despite his discomfort at being reminded about what he had been. It didn't hurt having anyone thinking of pulling anything funny to believe they had a Shrike along with them, it would surely give most of them second thoughts. She smiled at him in greeting and he gave her a weak smile back in return. In the short walk to the hanger bay he'd become accustomed to the extra weight of the armor, but it still weighted heavy on him in other unseen ways. Inside the cargo transport Rygel glided to the open hatchway.   
"Are you two ready? We don't have all frelling solar day, you know," he complained.   
Berret snapped his head around, the metal braid-stop on his newly done ponytail clanking against his back plate of armor, and gave the Hynerian a growl that would have done D'argo proud. Acting more insulted then scared, Rygel snorted, turned his nose up in the air, and floated back into the transport.  
Chiana grinned, "Apparently His Froggyness has gotten use to the constant head bowing our host has been shoveling his way over the comm-link." She lowered her voice a few octaves to imitate the voice of the Trader waiting for them on the planet. "Yes, Your Highness... Anything you say, Dominar... Right away, My Lord!" Mocking the man further by bowing low so her hair almost scrapped the floor. Despite himself, Chiana antics had him smiling and feeling better for the moment. Seeing his mood brighten, she grinned back at him. "You see, all you need is a little fun and humor in your life and you feel much better."  
Berret laughed out load this time and took her arm. Together they walked up the ramp as Rygel started the Shuttles engines.   
"Speaking of humor," he said, "I want to discuss with you what I found filling up my lavatory sink this morning..."  
  
Moya had to stay in the outer sector of the system to meet the Tanker Transport so the trip to the commerce planet took about two arns. Rygel piloted the Cargo shuttle without incident and after they touched down planet side, Tarcus, the trader that Rygel had been negotiating with by comm-link, met them. He was a large fat man with greasy black hair and mustache. His clothes were baggy and made up of many multicolor swirls, which if you looked too long at, eventually gave you a headache. On each of his stubby fingers resided a ring, most with one form or another of gem set into it. He also had a habit of rubbing his hands together as if washing them. He bowed and greeted Rygel like he was a king returning home. Berret found he disliked the man even more in person. His dislike for the man turned even darker after he openly leered when he caught sight of Chiana. He had pulled the hood of his cloak up over to cover his head and features. The man had not paid must attention to the black garbed figure until he tried to place his hand on Chiana's shoulder in guise of a greeting and Berret's armored hand painfully gripped his forearm, stopping the gesture cold. Tarcus's eyes grew dark with anger at the contact, but as they traveled up to the forearm of the restraining hand and read the archaic icons inscribed on the gauntlet, they grew shifty and after a microt they again had the false veneer of friendliness. As he drew back from Chiana, Berret released his hold on the man.   
Turning to Rygel he said, "You must be a very important being, my Lord, to have such a 'interesting' bodyguard." Then turning his eyes back to the Nebari girl, "And such an intriguing companion," he continued giving her an oily smile and an open leer of lust.   
Rygel waved a small hand in dismissal of the statement. "They serve their purpose," was all he said on the matter. Chiana had to restrain Berret from knocking Rygel on his head, discreetly signaling him to let the Hynerian play the game out. She put on her best smile and went along with the ruse by playing the minx for Tarcus's benefit.  
  
"Now then," said Rygel. "Shall we get down to business?" he asked.  
"Certainly, Dominar. But I regret to inform you that we were unable to obtain some of the items you requested," replied the Trader, continuing to wash his hands in the air. He produced a list of what items that were found and what ones had not been located. After almost an arn of re-negotiating a new trade agreement they came to a settlement were the crew got what items that were available plus some monetary funds for the cargo they had brought with them. Tarcus recommended that they take the time to visit the market area while the cargo transport was being unloaded and their goods loaded back aboard afterwards. Rygel and Tarcus spoke for a few microns, as they got ready to depart for the market place. The fat man repeatedly apologized to the Hynerian for failing to totally fill their order so many times that Berret had stopped listening to the conversation. Finally they were ready to leave and Chiana and Berret followed along behind Rygel's thronesled. He lowered his cloak's hood and looked around the market place that was not that much different from the one where he and the Pixie had originally met. Chiana was excited about being able to shop and Berret had to remind her about Zhaan's orders not to steal. To his surprise she actually behaved herself, or at least as far as he could tell.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The market was busy and very noisy as all kinds of beings went about conducting their business. In a tent whose owner dealt in an assortment of odds and ends; Rygel, Chiana, and Berret wandered between the tables and displays, stopping once in a while to pick up an item and examine it. Rygel, being the best barterer among Moya's crew, haggled with the shop's owner over the price of some much-needed added supplies. Chiana had just used almost all her personal credits to purchase some clothe to make a new outfit and a pair of boots, all of which was in a package that she had decided Berret should be responsible for carrying while she continued to shop, despite her low reserve of funds. Berret followed her from table to table as she chatted happily over one item or another, not minding being used as a beast of burden but strangely glad to see his friend enjoying herself. The only thing he had found for himself was some bits of metal that he would eventually make into one type of weapon or another in Moya's workshop. Lately he'd felt the need to augment his personal arsenal.  
He was brought out of his thoughts into the present again as Chiana stopped in front of a display case. A beautifully designed brooch had caught her eye. Seeing her interest the shop clerk who had been following them around hurriedly opened the case and product the brooch for Chiana to get a closer look at.   
"Look," she said to her friend. "Isn't that beautiful?"   
"Yes," Berret responded blandly. "The design is very interesting."   
Chiana turned and gave him a look that said, "Men don't know anything" and turned her attention back to the shopkeeper's assistant.   
"How much is it?" she asked. The clerk named a price that was definitely more then Chiana had even started out with, so with a sigh she turned it back over to the salesman. Berret chuckled to himself because he knew Chiana was probably racking her brain for a way to flinch the brooch, but the clerk's vigilance prevented the chance of that. As she step over to the next table, Berret surprised himself by withdrawing a Scarren Diamark Crystal from a hidden compartment in his belt. Holding it up to the clerk he asked if he would accept it in trade for the brooch. The clerk replied that it would indeed it would be a fair trade for the trinket. Chiana, with her mouth wide opened, asked why he bought it and what he planned to do with the ornament.   
Teasingly he said, "I do find the design interesting. Who knows... maybe I will find a use for it sometime later." He dropped the piece into a small pouch at his belt. Knowing Chiana was too proud to ask for it out-right, he had planned to leave it somewhere where he was sure she would try to flinch it. After all, he knew that stealing it would be half the fun for the Nebari; he made a mental not to remember not to make it too easy for her.  
  
Chiana had other ideas. She slid up close next to him and purred, "Well... I know someone who might have a use for it if you ever get tired of it." Putting a hand up to quickly caress his cheek before turning away back to the table she had just left. With a start, Berret realized that the brooch was no longer inside the pouch where he had just placed it mere microts before. Chiana looked over her shoulder slyly at him. Amazed, Berret slightly bowed his head in acknowledgement of her skills and simply said,   
"You're welcome."   
Chiana rewarded him with a dazzling smile, and then went back to looking over the items on the table. Berret wondered at the feeling he had just by doing something that made Chiana happy. Emotions were still strange to him, but the unspoken agreement they had about the ornament pin pleased him to no end.  
He found himself looking forward to seeing her wearing it. Even though technically she stole it, he knew neither of them would mention that fact. Berret mentally sighed to himself, trying to analyze what he was feeling was beginning to give him a headache so he put all the thoughts into the back of his mind and returned his attention back to the colorful item Chiana had found and was asking his opinion on.  
"Yes," he agreed, trying to guess what would be the correct answer. "The colors are very pretty."  
  
An arn later they returned to the transport landing area. Rygel had arranged for the badly needed foodstuffs they just purchased to be loaded into the Cargo Transport by local dockworkers. It had not turned out to be as profitable trade as originally thought. With Moya's crew slightly larger now with the new additions the food store would only last them about thirty solar days. The crew of dockworkers departed as they arrived and the shipmates stored the personal items they bought at the market for liftoff. Berret noticed a Tech still working at something in the cockpit.   
"What is he doing?" he asked the Hynerian who was floating nearby.   
"Oh," said Rygel, "Our gracious host as offered to have his personal Tech-Officer look over the Transport's controls and make any repairs or adjustments that are required to make up for the unforeseen shortage in our cargo order. He knows how to make the proper amends to a Dominar."   
Berret screwed up his face and gave a slight growl. Lately he had been picking up many of D'argo's Luxan habits. He didn't trust the being Rygel referred to as their host; he was as John put it... "Shifty," and Berret agreed. The man should not be trusted. The Tech sealed up a panel as Chiana strolled onto the flight deck.   
"We ready to go?" she asked. The Tech gave Rygel a nod as he gathered up his tool kit and left the ship. After closing and securing the hatch, Berret dropped into the seat next to Chiana and belted in. Rygel was already seated at the pilot's station with the engines fired up. As he closed the buckles on his seat belt the Transport shot into the air. Berret frowned because he knew the Hynerian did that on purpose, but he refused to say anything and give Rygel the satisfaction of knowing he had succeeded in annoying him. Even still, Rygel chuckled to himself. As much as he didn't like to, Berret had to admit that the small being was a good pilot. Once they broke free of the planet's atmosphere they were able to remove their safety belts and move about the transport.  
  
"Are you sure we are on course?" asked the Shrike some microns later. "The star field does not look correct."  
"The instruments say we are exactly on course," barked Rygel. "What's the matter, Shrike?  
Don't trust my piloting?" he said while jiggling the control stick around, causing the shuttle to wobble in flight.   
"I had thought that was already obvious, cretin," shot back Berret as he stubbornly worked to keep his balance.   
"Why don't you go in back with your little tralky friend and leave me alone," said Rygel.  
Berret though about twisting the Hynerians ears off but concluded that bit of enjoyment would be better left for a time when he wasn't piloting them somewhere. He returned to the rear cabin section where Chiana was examining her new trinket.   
She looked up smiling and asked, "What was that shutter?" He took the seat beside her before replying.  
"Oh! I believe that was Rygel having what John calls a 'brain fart'," he answered.  
Berret took the brooch from her and looked it over a short time himself and then pinned it to front of her coat. Chiana purred and then leaned herself against him with her head laying on his shoulder, not seeming to mind or notice the armor plates under his cloak.  
"I didn't realize how tired I am," she said with a yawn. After a few microt of silence where he thought she'd fallen asleep, she said happily, "We did complete this supply mission without any trouble. I guess Zhaan worried over nothing and we proved we can be trusted to handle important jobs... without frelling it up," she added. Berret nodded in agreement and decided closing his eyes for a brief rest was not such a bad idea.  
  
It seemed no sooner had he closed his eyes then there was a loud bang from the cockpit and a cloud of smoke began to pour forth from the same direction. If the small explosion didn't wake them up, Rygel's scream would have. Chiana and Berret rushed into the cockpit. Rygel was trying to beat out a tiny fire on the control panel and the original smoke cloud had begun to disappear quickly thanks to the Pod's cabin filter system.   
"What happened?" shouted Chiana. "What did you do?"  
"I didn't do a frelling thing for yotz sakes!" protest Rygel. "The farble control panel just blew up by itself."  
All the lights of the control system were out; it was obvious to all three that the shuttle helm was dead. Even so they each tried buttons and switches to no avail.  
"Where are we?" asked Berret  
"We should be half-way home to Moya," said Rygel.  
"There were no planets on this side of the system at the half way point that had any moons," stated Berret.  
"What the frell does that have to do with anything!" cried Rygel  
Chiana looked confused. Tilting her head she asked, "Yeah! What?"  
Pointing out the forward window the ex-assassin asked, "Then what do you call that."  
Outside the shuttle had just drifted pass a large planet. Rising up and slowly filling the window was an ice blue moon, and they were heading right toward it.  
"We are not where we are suppose to be," said Berret.  
Chiana went to the comm-link and attempted to raise Moya. The device refused to even turn on and after pulling an inspection plate open; she discovered several key components missing.  
Showing the others the empty spaces inside the comm-link she said, "I think we're in real trouble now."   
  
Zhaan paced nervously back and forth in Command, stopping every couple of tours of the deck to peer at the view screen. "Where can they be?" she asked for the hundredth time.   
John lounged with his feet up on a console off to the side while eating a piece of fruit. "Relax, Blue. They probably just lost track of time. They are probably even as we speak," he paused to take another bite and then continued speaking around the mouthful, "... on their way back."  
Zhaan held up her hand, "John, that is very irritating when you talk and eat at the same time." Having scolded Crichton she went back to worrying. "I never should have agreed to let those 'children' make that cargo run. We should have waited until I or D'argo could have accompanied them."  
D'argo walked onto the Command Tier at that time having just returned from making a minor repair in the chamber under Pilot's Den.  
"Is there any word from the Pod yet?" he rumbled.  
"None," answered the Delvian.  
"They are probably sitting in a tavern somewhere drunk! Rygel and Chiana are irresponsible enough. With that Shrike with them, who knows what kind of trouble they have gotten into?" said the Luxan; already deciding the worst had happened.  
"Guys! Relax! It's no big deal. It wouldn't be the first time we hadda bail Chi and Ryg outta the pokey if they got caught with their fingers in the cookie jar," said Crichton throwing the pit from his fruit into a trash bin across from him. The pit sailed into the mouth of the bin and Crichton threw both hands in the air and muttered, "Two Points! ...and the crowd goes wild!..." then started making hissing noises while waving his arms in imagined victory from his seat. D'argo rolled his eyes and Zhaan simply shook her head.  
"He never takes anything seriously," she said to herself.  
  
Half an arn later, Pilot appeared on the holo-comm, "Zhaan, we are receiving a message from the commerce planet."  
"Is it from Rygel and the others?" Zhaan asked hopefully as John and D'argo joined her.  
"No. It is from that Tarcus fellow that Rygel has been communicating with," responded Pilot.  
"That guy gives me the creeps," said John under his breath.  
"Please put him on the screen, Pilot," asked the Priestess.  
The forward screened flickered and changed to reveal the fat man.  
"Greetings, John Crichton..." he said. John returned a cool two-fingered wave to his greeting.  
"You must be Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan," he continued noticing the Delvian and ignoring D'argo totally.  
"Yes, and you are Tarcus. The man Rygel arranged to trade with. I must ask... our shipmates are late returning. Do you know where they are?" she inquired.  
The man gave her a smile without any true warmth in it. "As a matter of fact I do. That's why I'm making this call. Your companions are... 'reasonably' safe... for the moment."  
At the implied threat D'argo snarled and slammed his fist down on a panel. "What have you done with them!" he demanded.  
Zhaan held her hand up to quiet the Luxan. "Yes, please explain what you mean by 'reasonably safe...for the moment'," she asked in a calm voice.  
"You see, Pa'u Zhaan. I'm a trader in goods... all sorts of goods. And some items have more value then others. In this situation, I have something you want and you have something I want," Tarcus said, rubbing his hands together once more.  
"And what exactly do we have that you want, Big Boy?" asked Crichton.  
The smile on the large man's flabby face grew to an immense size. He held up a flat circular object and pressed a button. A holo image of John's face appeared to hover above the object's surface.  
"Why... you of course... John Crichton," he sneered.  
It was one of Scorpius's holographic wanted posters he held in his pudgy hand.  
Zhaan turned to D'argo, "Call the others!" she said urgently. 


	3. Chapter 2

Andar walked into what he had been told was the Leviathan's Command Tier. On the imaging device that served the crew as a view screen there was an image of the man called Crichton. It reminded him of the posters used to warn people about escaped thieves and murderers that were used on his homeworld. He looked at Crichton, a wave of fear passing through him as he began to realize that's exactly what the image was. "What have I gotten myself into?" he asked himself.   
Malika entered behind Andar as she followed him into Command to answer Zhaan and D'argo's urgent summons, the others had already arrived there ahead of them. She looked up and saw one of the wanted beacon devices being held by a heavyset man on the holo-screen. She had seen more then a few when she was on her own and she was almost sure there had to be some with her name and likeness in them. The beacons were one of the ways she had found out about Zhaan being in the Uncharted Territories.   
The others were already deeply into a discussion while Andar was standing off to the side.  
"Do you know what's going on?" she asked him as she approached him.   
Andar looked at Malika, "You mean aside from Crichton's wanted poster?"   
"That's not new," she said looking over and she noticed the growing look of discomfort on Andar's face, "He's not an actual criminal. I've heard the whole story and you don't have to worry about him. I've done worse things than he has," she said jokingly.   
  
John stood stunned and speechless, as the Command Tier seemed to become crowded as the other's arrived and everyone began asking questions. D'argo glared at the man on the view screen.  
"We will never turn John over to you!" he said, again slamming both palms of his hands down on the console to emphasize his statement and anger.  
"Curb your dog," sneered the Trader to Zhaan. "Never the less, I said your three friends are safe for the moment. The longer you delay in turning Crichton over to me, the less likely they are to remain... healthy."  
He stopped making the hand washing motions as he held up a single finger to make a point. "Oh! Don't bother trying to find them. They are nowhere near this planet. I've taken the liberty of storing them someplace you'll never find." Laughing he added, "At least, not in time that is." The laugh abruptly ended. "The choice is yours and your time... and theirs, is limited. Don't take too long making a decision. I'll be waiting for your answer."  
The screen went black as he ended the connection and Pilot's image came to life again on the clamshell.  
"This is terrible. Moya and I are willing to do anything we can to help," said Pilot  
"Goddess protest them," murmured Zhaan, quickly making hand signs as blessings.  
"I'm going to enjoy killing him," said D'argo  
"There will be time for that later, Sweet D'argo," said Zhaan trying to calm him. "At this moment we need a plan."  
Resolutely Crichton said, "What else can we do, Zhaan. You heard him. Either I turn myself over or Sparky, Pip, and Berret are dead."  
Her role switched from worrying about the Pod crew to the voice of reason. "We have some time John," she said consolingly. "If anything, Chiana and Rygel are resourceful and clever, and Berret..." she paused remembering his lapses in his memory. "Berret will be their strength and protect them if he can."  
"I hope you're right, Zhaan," replied John.  
Zhaan asked Pilot, "Can Moya retrace the Pod's flight path or track it in any other way?"  
"She will try Pa'u Zhaan, but you must remember... like the DRDs, they are a part of and dependent upon Moya. However it is not the other way around. Moya might be able to sense the Pod if they were near enough to each other," explained Pilot.  
"That is good enough to start with. If you will ask her, Pilot, to try any retrace their flight path," Zhaan asked. She turned back to the others in the room. "Now if anyone has any ideas on how to find our missing shipmates without turning John over to that man and Scorpius... now would be a good time to put them on the table."  
  
Aeryn was the last to enter command. She had been down in docking bay doing some repairs on Malika's prowler.   
"What's going on?" she asked as she jogged into command to stand next to John. She observed the look on his face and knew that something was wrong.  
"Well, we just got done talking to Rygel's contact on the planet," he started.  
"What trouble did he and that little tralk manage to get themselves into this time?" Aeryn asked annoyingly.  
"They didn't Aeryn. That guy Tarcus is actually holding them for ransom!"  
"Ransom? What could we possibly have that he wants?" she asked, looking around the room. She looked over to Zhaan whose head was down. Malika and the new arrival, Andar, were over in corner. She looked at D'Argo last, who answered her question.  
"This Freck-ned has obtained a wanted beacon. He said he would return Rygel and the others if we give him... if we give him John," D'Argo said apologetically.  
"John?" Aeryn turned to look at Crichton questioningly. "What exactly does this wanted beacon say?"  
"It's Scorpius, Aeryn. I turn myself over to him and Scorpy and the others will be returned."  
"No. We are not going to let Scorpius have what he wants without a fight. We won't go through this again," Aeryn ranted.  
"Aeryn, listen."  
"No, John. You listen! We can come up with a plan to get them back without giving you up."  
"There's no way of knowing where they are. By the time we find them they could be dead," D'Argo said raising his voice.  
"Well, maybe we'd be better off then," yelled Aeryn as she stormed out of Command.  
John followed Aeryn as she left the Command tier. He took her by the arm to stop her.   
"Aeryn, you don't mean that. They haven't done anything to deserve that."   
"Well, if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have gotten into as much trouble as they put us in."  
"What are you going to do now?" John asked.  
"I'm going down to the planet and have a talk with this Tarcus. Pilot, prepare my Prowler!" she snatched her arm away from John's hold and continued down the corridor.  
"Aeryn don't! We have to think this through. You can't just go down there without knowing what you're getting yourself into. Let's just go back to Command and figure out a plan."   
Aeryn stopped to think about what John was saying and slowly turned around to look at him.  
"Come on, Aeryn... please," John pleaded. They both walked back to Command.  
  
The Transport Pod crashed on the Ice Moon and had bounced several times along the snow covered surface, leaving a number of parts of itself scattered along behind in its wake. Berret, who had sustained only a cut along his temple, which had already begun healing, climbed outside the wrecked shuttle and surveyed the damage. The crew and cargo compartments had survived more or less intact, but the drive section had sheared off and was laying almost a metra away and burning.   
The Cargo Pod would not fly again.   
He pushed through the deep snow and entered back into the downed craft. Chiana and Rygel had suffered only bruises from being knocked around the cabin. Chiana had climbed under the control panel that had exploded and after tearing it apart had pulled out a burnt device.  
"This isn't suppose to be there," she said wiping away a smudge of dirt from her cheek. "It was connected to the helm and navigation linkage." Berret took the device and examined it for himself while she continued her explanation. "It frelled our course readings and when we got to this position in the system, blew out and fried the Pod's controls."  
"Someone wanted us to crash here... but why?" asked Berret.  
"Who could have put it there?" began Rygel, and then stopped as the answer already hit him.  
"The Tech-Officer," was all Berret said.  
"Well, it looks like your emma-kissing friend... really wasn't your friend," said Chiana sarcastically, and then threw down the tool she still held in her hand. "Grot! It's getting cold in here," she said putting her arms around herself.  
"It'll get colder here yet," observed Berret. "The orbital scans showed this moon has a 28 arn rotation. Once we hit the night side we'll have 14 arns of colder temperatures."  
Rygel's whiskers drooped at the news and he let out a long moan of distress.  
  
They collected what supplies they could from the cargo section of the ship and closed off that part to help retain heat inside the crew compartment. They were sitting huddled inside trying to think of ways to improve their situation. The cold was effecting Chiana more so then Berret so he gave her his heavy cloak to wrap herself up in. As soon as she sat down Rygel climbed up and disappeared somewhere inside with her. Berret had stripped off the metal armor plates because they drew the cold like magnets. Both of them had also put on the spare flight suits stored in the Transport Pod, but there was nothing that would have fit Rygel. They were sitting listening to the wind howl outside the ship when Chiana had an idea.  
"The Caloric Climate Control Rods!" she said suddenly standing up and spilling Rygel onto the floor.  
"What do you mean?" asked the Shrike, ignoring the Hynerian's complaining about being dumped over.  
"The Pod's batteries are Calorics like Moya, and they have to be kept in a constant climate control environment to work. We can pull out the rods and use them to heat this part of the Pod.... if we can find a intact power source," she added  
"It's worth a try," agreed Rygel. "And its better then waiting to freeze to death."  
"Agreed," said Berret. "I will go outside and see if any of the power cells survived the landing while you and Rygel began pulling the rods from the service crawl ways."  
  
While they worked inside, Berret went outside and after an arn of labor managed to return with seven intact power cells, the other three having been lost in the crash. Chiana and Rygel managed to find four working control rods and had wired them together along with a power flow regulator. They quickly connected the first power cell to the arrangement and were rewarded when the rods began to glow a deep red and throw heat. Berret thought a moment and returned to the cargo section. He had retained one of the gauntlets on his right forearm and now used it to cut a cargo container into sections. He dragged the four largest pieces back into the crew section and arranged their reflective side toward the glowing rods. When he was satisfied with their placement, he turned the dial on the power flow regulator down past the halfway mark... much to Rygel's horror.  
"What are you doing? Is your addled brain totally fahrbot! We'll freeze!" he cried.  
"We only have seven power cells. They will last only about three and half solar days operating at full capacity. The shiny sides of the cargo crates will reflect more of the heat back to us," he explained. "Which means we can use less power and extend the life of the cells."   
"Yeah, that's a good idea," said Chiana from under his cloak. "We should be able to get a few more days out of them then."  
"There is one other thing you can do if you wish to avoid becoming cold, Rygel," said Berret to the Hynerian  
"What's that?" the Hynerian replied.  
"Kill yourself," he said with an evil grin.  
  
They were four arns into the night cycle of the moon. The lunar body was large enough to have it's own atmosphere which meant it was also large enough to have it's own weather. Earlier the wind had picked up so much that they could barely hear each other speaking over it. They had enough food and water to last them for sometime and in addition they could melt snow if they needed any more water for other uses.  
Rygel had urged them all to eat their fill from the supplies, wisely explaining that their bodies would need the extra fuel to produce heat. Berret had also dragged in several sacks of pliable goods and made a makeshift bed so they wouldn't have to sleep in the Pod's seats or on the cold deck. They'd used several canvas tarps and cargo tie-downs as blankets. Even with the Heating Rods, the temperature in the Pod was cold; not as cold as outside, and not cold enough that they would freeze. It definitely was not comfortable.  
Berret sat on the bed with his back up against one wall of the transport pod. They had all fallen asleep for an arn or two but another bloody dream soon interrupted the Shrike's rest. Between his legs laid Chiana wrapped in his cloak and using his lap as a pillow. The makeshift blankets hid her from view and somewhere else under there was Rygel. The only sign of his presence was the rough snoring issuing from the mound of material... at least Berret hoped it was Rygel's snoring and not the Pixie's.  
Not sure if he was unable or not wanting to return to sleep, he distracted himself by using a small tool kit to dismantle the device that Chiana had found inside the control panel of the Pod. Working carefully and quietly so not to disturb the others, he soon had the machine in several pieces. He worried at the largest component and managed to detach a small plate. To his surprise he found that the device had not been totally destroyed in the blast, something inside had power and was working! Several more microns later he had the working part uncovered. He wasn't sure, but it appeared to be a homing transmitter, he would have to ask the others when they awoke what their opinions of the part were. He put the tools back into their case and pondered the device and it's meaning. If this is what he thought it was, then that means somebody has been keeping very close track of them... and knew exactly where they were.  
  
Chiana and Rygel had agreed with Berret about the device he found being a homing device. The conclusion being ominous, somebody had deliberately caused them to crash on this ice moon and was keeping track of their whereabouts. They discussed the reason for the act but could not find an explanation why anyone would want to kidnap a Nebari girl, a disposed ruler, or an ex-assassin. No one would care about the first two and the Syndicate would just kill the third instead of going to such elaborate lengths.  
The weather had not improved at sunrise, the blowing wind making visibility no more then a few hentas in front of your face. Berret found three tether-lines aboard the pod and after fastening them together to make a long safety line, ventured outside to explore the area around the down transport hoping to find something useful to them. His search yielded nothing of use and he'd only discovered a vast field of ice and snow for as far as the tethers stretched.  
He returned to the Pod and reported his findings to Chiana and Rygel. The Hynerian being barely able to remain awake long enough for him to finish speaking before rolling himself back up in his blankets and nodding off again. Chiana was still wearing his cloak and had torn off strips of cargo harness to wrap and tie around her body to hold the large cloak closed about her. Once Rygel was asleep again she approached Berret as he stripped off wet pieces of tarp and cargo cover he'd used for his trip outside.   
"I'm worried about Rygel," she said in a whisper. "All he does is sleep. He only wakes up to eat and use the facilities... I don't think he's going to make it much longer."  
"He is smaller then either of us. It makes sense that the cold would affect him more. If the weather clears, I'll be able to search farther beyond the reach of the tethers. Perhaps then we'll find something we can make a fire with. If I could reach the drive section maybe there is some fuel left that didn't go up in the crash," he said, adding the last to give the Pixie hope. "Until then try and make him eat more to maintain his body heat."  
She nodded, the sad look in her eyes making him feel useless. If the enemy had been a living thing instead of freezing cold temperatures, something he could kill, he though darkly, he'd maybe of use to his friends. As it were, the other two had thought of most of the survival ideas. Watching Chiana stiffly move about the compartment he realized she wasn't doing well herself. The though of losing her filled him with panic and rage. If he ever got out of this he vowed to himself, he'd make whoever was responsible pay dearly.  
  
"I say we go down to that planet and make Tarcus talk!" said D'argo, loudly cracking his knuckles. "There is no way we are turning John over to him so Scorpius can get his hands back on him."  
Aeryn nodded her agreement while Crichton held up his hand to stop the line of thought.   
"Whoa...whoa, big guy. Thanks for the sentiment. But what happens to Pip and the others if we can't get him to talk in time. We have no idea where they are or exactly what kind of danger they're in. If we take the time to try and make him talk, it might be too late for them."  
D'argo hung his head and leaned over a console. "Why does everything have to be so frelling complicated?" he asked disgustedly. Zhaan's eyes lit up as she had a thought.  
"Why indeed, Sweet Dargo. Would not one kidnapping deserve another?" she asked, "There has to be something or someone this Tarcus values more then the reward he will get for Crichton." She looked around at the others to see if they were following her thought. "We just have to find out that that someone or something is," she finished.  
  
The day crept by slowly and they spent some time trying to salvage more material from the cargo section of the Pod, and the rest they spent sitting around listening to the wind howl outside. Rygel awoke twice to eat and relieve himself and Berret had to agree with Chiana, the Hynerian was looking gray and unhealthy. He spoke little to the other two and almost immediately after concluding his business went right back to sleep.   
Chiana eyes held compassion for the small being and a question for Berret. Without her asking he answered her in a whisper,   
"We cannot turn the temperature up any higher, it will just exhaust the power cells and we will all perish sooner."  
Chiana nodded her understanding and started to turn away, but he caught her shoulder and turned her back to face him. She glanced up and it struck him how haggard she looked. There were dark circles under her eyes and her white hair was uncharacteristically limp under the hood of his cloak.   
"If it was possible, we would, I'm sorry," he said.   
Chiana nodded again and went back to the place she'd been sitting. It was right then that Berret decided that no matter what the weather conditions the next day, he would try and make it to the drive section. Even if he did there was no certainty that there would be any fuel left for them to burn. He just had to figure out how he was going to accomplish the trip.  
  
After sunset they all huddled back into the makeshift bed and blankets. Chiana had unwrapped his cloak from around herself and now it was wrapped around the both of them with the Rygel making up a ball of material somewhere along their legs. The Pixie snuggled up along side him and rested her cheek along side his as she got comfortable, not complaining for the first time about the stubble that was now on his own cheeks. She wrapped her small arms around his chest and for the first time Berret was thankful for Chiana's higher body temperature. They talked for a while about their situation, pausing sometimes to listen to Rygel's soft snores. The Nebari girl eventually fell asleep and he thought awhile longer on how to get to the drive section. He had the beginning of a plan, but it would require both him and Chiana to accomplish it. He refined a few ideas and decided to get some sleep himself. Pulling Chiana tighter to him he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.  
  
On Scarren Homeworld  
  
With a feeling of dread, Tytius entered the throne room. Arckatius was entertaining himself with a slave girl and Tytius had to clear his throat to get the other Scarren's attention.   
"I'm sorry, my Lord. Please forgive the intrusion... but there is news from the operation in the Circarta System," he said.   
Arckatius dismissed the slave girl with a wave of his clawed hand, much to her relief she slipped out a side door.   
"Tell me, Tytius. Has our friend been dealt with in the proscribed manner?" he asked.  
This is the part of the news Tytius dreaded telling the would-be king the most, steeling himself he got to the point of the matter. "No, my Lord... there has been a... complication," he replied nervously.   
Arckatius' eyes turned hard and deadly, "Exactly what kind of 'complication', do you mean, Tytius?" he growled. "Spit it out and don't play with words. Has he been taking care of or not?" he demanded.  
"I'm afraid not, Sire. It appears Shrike 457 did not complete the mission. It seems there was an altercation shortly after his arrival, apparently several common street thugs attacked the Shrike, and used a Peacekeeper Stun baton to damage the collar," Tytius explained.   
"Frelling Dren!" shouted Arckatius, slamming his fist onto a nearby table and sending a number of objects flying about. "Was the Shrike neutralized?" he asked after a moments thought.  
Now the worse news thought Tytius. "We don't believe so, my Lord. There's evidence that the attackers were injured using Bat'Rellite Blades. A number of our local contacts also witnessed a Sebacean male fitting the Shrike's description with a young Nebari waif, and later at the space port boarding a transport with the Nebari girl, a large Luxan warrior with General tattoos and two other Sebaceans, one male, one female. The report goes on to say this group left the surface and docked with a Leviathan ship," he finished.  
"If the Shrike abandoned his mission and left with this group of strangers that would have to mean that he's no longer under control of the collar," Arckatius thought out loud. Turning back to Tytius he asked, "Why didn't the collar self destruct and kill the Shrike as it should have if it had malfunctioned?"   
"Unknown, my Lord. The self-destruct device could have been damaged also at some point during the attack on him," Tytius guessed.   
Another thought hit Arckatius, "Was the collar's memory wiped before sending the Shrike out on this mission?" Knowing this question would eventually come up, Tytius swallowed hard.  
"No, Sire. It wasn't," he finally said.   
Cursing, Arckatius asked in a low dangerous voice, "How many mission records were left on the collar's memory bank?"   
"Four... Five including this one, Sire. They were scheduled to be wiped upon completion of this assignment," Tytius said, but not wanting to remind the king that he'd ordered the Shrike sent out before the last scheduled collar tuning could be completed. Giving such a reminder could prove very fatal to Tytius' health. Better to take the blame for the oversight and possibly live through this disaster.   
"This is a very big problem for this Syndicate House, Tytius, if we have a rogue Shrike running lose with important information about our activities. Is there any chance the Shrike didn't survive the collar removal long enough to make it off planet and this group just happened to take the body with them?" Arckatius hoped.   
"No, my Lord Arckatius. Our instruments also indicate that the Wraith Cruiser assigned to Shrike 457 powered up and left the planet's surface a few microns behind the shuttle. We lost the homing beacon a few microts after it broke orbit. It's possible that the ship was destroyed somewhere above the planet, but we know that the ship would have simply returned to home base if the Shrike had expired. We believe the craft was sucked into starburst behind the Leviathan and the homing device then burned out."  
He was deep in thought for a few moments then Arckatius made another royal decree. "Tytius... I want you to personally take charge of the effort to track down this rogue Shrike. When you find him... kill him... and anyone else you find in his company. But first attempt to find out how many of our secrets have been compromised if possible," Arckatius said, and then added, "Damage control is the keyword here. If you have to call on my cousin, Scorpius, then do so, that half-breed might be good for something useful, besides certain Peacekeeper officials owe us a certain amount of 'favors'. Now may be the time to collect." 


	4. Chapter 3

Back on Moya:  
  
"Well, I say we go down there and talk to this Tarcus. Maybe we can make a deal with him," said Aeryn.  
"Aeryn, remember Furlow?" John asked.  
"Yes. She helped restore your module when we got stuck on that planet with that Pomolian hound-like couple," Aeryn answered.  
"Well, what if we went down to the planet and took a look at this beacon. Maybe there's some way you could manipulate it to make it sound like I'm not worth the effort," John said matter of factly.  
"It's worth a try. But what if he doesn't believe it?" Aeryn asked.  
"Aeryn, we have to try something. Pip and the others don't have much time. If I go down there with you and D'Argo I'm sure we could get some answers," John stated.  
"John, I do not think that is a good idea. What if he has already contacted Scorpius? We cannot take the risk of dealing with Scorpius if you are with us. Stay here on the ship. Aeryn and I will go down and talk to this son of a hezmat," D'Argo said and he readied and switched his Qualta blade into a pulse rifle.  
"Big guy, listen..."  
"No, John! It is settled. Aeryn, let's go."  
"Right. Pilot, ready a Transport," Aeryn said as she and D'Argo walked out of Command.  
"Yes, Officer Sun," Pilot answered.  
  
Crichton looked as if he was about to follow the other two out when Zhaan stepped in.  
"John! Aeryn and D'argo are right. If you traveled to the planet with them and fell into Tarcus's hands, we would have nothing to bargain with for the release of Rygel and the others."  
"I know, Blue. I just feel so damned...." he cut off what he was about to say and threw his hands up in frustration.  
"... helpless," finished the Delvian. "As do I. But Aeryn and D'argo are our best recourse at this time. It is best if you, Malika, and I stay aboard Moya in the event Aeryn and D'argo need to call for help."  
"So we get to stay here and wait? Sounds like fun," Malika said sarcastically. "Well, I'm going to grab some food. I'll be back in a little while, nervousness make me hungry," she said. "Want to come, Andar?" she asked.   
Andar nodded, not knowing what to make of the current situation. At that moment, he realized that he had not eaten for several days. Food would most definitely be good right now. Besides, he rather liked the blue woman's company.  
When they reached the Center Chamber mess, Malika started to look for something suitable to eat.   
"Where are you from anyway?" she asked turning to look at him. "I never did find out how you ended up out here in space."   
"My people call our world Shalazar," the Sebacean man began, "It's no doubt primitive by your standards, but, it's home. The storytellers say that our people came to Shalazar millennia ago on ships similar to the one I was on. Then, the Cataclysm came. The ships were destroyed, and my people were stranded and forced to start anew."  
He looked at the floor, not liking what he was going to say next.  
"Some weekens ago, I was taken from Shalazar. Abducted by alien beings. They performed tests on me, experiments on my body. Eventually, I managed to escape in the shuttle. I came across you not soon afterwards."  
"I'm sorry, that sounds awful," Malika said. She didn't know what to say next, so she started to look for food again. "Looks like this is the best here right now," Malika said pulling out some fruit, "Want some?" she asked.   
  
When Aeryn and D'Argo reached the planet they set out in search of Tarcus.  
"D'Argo, over there," said Aeryn pointing in the direction of the merchant's storefront.  
D'argo started to reach for his Qualta blade. "I will rip his head off," he started.  
"D'argo, no! I'll handle this. Just let me talk to him. I'll get him to come around," she said as they reached Tarcus' building where he was in the process of selling a piece of his merchandise. Aeryn walked over and shoved the unsuspecting customer out of her way. She then reached over the counter and grabbed Tarcus by the throat.   
"Where are they?" she demanded.  
"What? Who...? I don't know what you're talking about," he managed to get through as he gasped for air.  
"Don't play stupid with me! You know who I'm talking about," Aeryn said as she squeezed his throat a little tighter.  
"Let me talk to him, Aeryn. I'll get him to tell us where they are," growled D'argo as he moved Aeryn aside and pulled out his Qualta blade.  
"You are all escaped prisoners but the only one I want is John Crichton. Give me John Crichton and I'll tell you where your shipmates are," demanded Tarcus.  
D'argo growled and Aeryn stood firmly between D'argo and Tarcus. "What good is your reward going to be if you're dead?" she said as she pulled out her pulse pistol and aim it directly between his eyes. "Have you contacted Scorpius?" she asked.  
"And what if I have?" answered Tarcus smugly.  
Aeryn blasted a container of some kind of liquid behind him with her pulse pistol.   
"Don't play games with me. Now have you contacted Scorpius?" Aeryn asked again.  
"No! No, I haven't contacted anyone yet. Please just don't mess up my place of business," Tarcus pleaded.  
"You really don't know who you're dealing with do you?" asked Dargo. "What makes you think that Scorpius will give you anything because you gave him John? He just might decide to take you with him and put you in his Aurora Chair," Dargo started as he leaned in closer to Tarcus.  
"Aurora what?" asked Tarcus curiously.  
"Yes. You're right, Dargo. Why would he give a nobody like this anything," Aeryn said with a sly grin. "Scorpius is always willing to put someone new in his comfy chair."  
"Wait! What is this about an Aurora Chair? What is it?" Tarcus asked in near panic.  
"Oh, so you've never heard of the Aurora Chair then? Dargo, tell our friend here about the effects of the Aurora Chair," said Aeryn.  
Dargo leaned in even closer to explain the Aurora Chair in detail. "First he'll strap you in the chair so that you cannot move. Then he'll commence to picking apart your brain piece by piece all the while extracting your precious memories from your head until they're nothing but one big blur. You'll feel as if your head will explode and he will not stop until he has what he wants. And when he is finished with you..." Dargo looked over to Aeryn to let her finish.  
"Well... you get the idea, Tarcus. So now, what's more important to you now? Death or freedom? What's it going to be? You are an interesting species. I'm sure Scorpius would love to get a hold of a specimen such as yourself," Aeryn said calmly.  
"Ok, ok. Here. Here are the coordinates," shouted Tarcus. "Just go. Please go. And take this beacon with you. I have no further use for it."  
  
Aeryn and Dargo quickly left the hut and headed for the transport. Aeryn activated her comm to let Pilot now they had indeed received the coordinates to where their missing crewmates were.   
"Pilot, we have the coordinates to Rygel and the others. As soon as we reach the Pod, we'll scan them up to you. Set a course on that trajectory as soon as possible. We'll be there shortly."  
"Thank you, Officer Sun. I'll let the others know," answered Pilot.  
  
  
Tarcus glared at their departing backs. Brushing of his shirt of many colors, he hurried into the back room of his store.  
"Did you see the two that were just here?" he asked a large being while kicking at his chair.  
The big humanoid grunted something in its language to indicate that he had noticed them.  
"Good! Get your men and get to the spaceport... I don't want them to leave this planet alive."  
As the alien rose from his chair, Tarcus suddenly slapped him and shrieked, " ...and next time, pay more attention! They nearly killed me and I'm paying you for protection!"  
The being lumbered out the back door, not seeming to pay much mind to his employer's outburst.  
"Aurora Chair... indeed! humf!" he muttered.   
  
"Are you frelling frackeled?" Chiana's shout was slightly muffled by the layers of cargo canvas and padding she wore to keep warm. Berret opened his eyes and looked over at her. He'd been trying to picture in his mind again what he saw on the day of the crash. Somewhere a metra away laid the remains of the Pod's drive section and he was trying to pinpoint its position by memory seeing visibility was still low.  
"You'll get lost and freeze to death," she added, trying to reason with him.  
"That's why I have you to help me. With you signaling I shouldn't get lost, and I'm betting those microbes will prevent me from freezing... or at least minimize any damage." he said attempting to sound reassuring.  
"Yeah?" Chiana snapped back angrily. "What if they don't? We probably won't be able to find you out there."  
"If we don't do something for an alternate source of heat... Rygel will die and then so shall we," Berret responded.  
He turned back to recheck the makeshift sled he constructed out of pieces of crate, leaving Chiana to try and think of further reasons to persuade him from going. He examined all the items he packed against his mental list and found he had everything he believed he would require. On the sled were several fluid storage cans, a length of hose, rope, about four-dozen metal rod poles, and a pulse rife. He double checked to make sure the small tool kit was secured inside his clothing and the bent to pick up a satchel containing most of the Pod's supply of glowsticks, which were chemical devices that when bent and shaken produced different colors of intense light for a few arns. He turned back to the Nebari girl expecting to be given another scolding tongue lashing by the small woman; instead she simply looked at him with sad eyes. Feeling badly because it seemed like abandoning her and Rygel, he reminded her,   
"I need you to help find my way back, do you remember the signal codes?"   
She nodded, but he recited them once more anyway.  
"Four Pulse rifle blasts means success, three mean I haven't found the drive yet but will keep searching, two mean I haven't found it but am returning... then what to you do?" he asked.  
She sighed and answered, "I keep firing my Pulse rifle straight up in the air every 300 microts so you can find your way back to the Pod."  
"All right, an arn after I leave you'll fire one shot into the air and await my reply volley... what happens if there is no reply or only one return shot?" he asked.  
"One or no shot means you're hurt or dead.... and we are not to try and rescue you," she said reluctantly, then added, "...at least until the weather clears."  
  
Knowing that was the best promise he could get from the stubborn Nebari waif, he nodded and broke one of the glowsticks. Shaking it to life, he hung in on the wreckage of the Pod facing the direction he would travel. He picked up the tether line that he would run out as far as he could and mark with a glowstick. He faced Chiana one last time and told her.   
"Wake up Rygel and get his help finding components and heating elements to use. If there is any fuel left, we'll need a way to burn it safely. The two of you would know better how to construct such a device then I would."   
The girl nodded her head and reached up as if to hug him good-bye. To Berret surprise she cupped his face and pulled him down to her. Her lips were warm and gentle against his, but he was too stunned to enjoy the unexpected kiss. He had seen John and Aeryn kiss before and had noticed that the others politely ignored the incidents, even though they seem to have slight smiles of approval at the times the two were getting along. Zhaan had even kissed him once on the cheek after an unusually rough mind link, but he'd know she was only being kind and comforting. He had thought Chiana's occasional rubbing together of cheeks with him was much the same thing, but it had never occurred to him before to kiss her. Before he knew it the kiss was over and then came the hug he originally expected. In his ear she whispered two words.   
"Come back."  
Strangely a phrase from his memories returned to him. It was a phrase the lizard-like being in his nightmares made him repeat as part of some macabre ritual, only this time it held another meaning for him.  
"...Not even death," he whispered back.  
  
Stepping back from the Pixie, he cleared his head of the swimming thoughts. There would be time later he hoped to figure all this out. He slid into the sled's harness and clipped on the tether line. He waved good-bye to Chiana saying,   
"Remember... start firing in one arn."   
She waved back and responded lightly, "I will if me and Rygel aren't too busy playing Taggle!"   
Chuckling at her offhandedness, he set off in the direction he thought the drive section laid, pulling the sled behind him and thinking that it was hard to keep a good Nebari down.  
Good luck would have it that his feet didn't sink too deeply into the snow. He thought it might have been due to the crash melting the snow and then it refreezing as ice, making the surface easier to travel over. It was also a good indication that he'd picked the right direction to go in. He also ironically hoped the designers of the microbes he had been altered with seen fit to install some sort of compass. Halfway along the tether he stopped and attached another glowstick. His steps soon became mechanical and his mind wondered back to Chiana's kiss. He wondered why he'd never thought of it before and what he was supposed to do, or even if he was suppose to do anything. Perhaps he should ask John if... or when, he corrected, they got back. He had second thoughts about asking Crichton for advice as he recalled the times Aeryn had became annoyed with him over one thing or another. Rygel claimed to have many wives, but he would rather choked then ask that overstuffed pompous Hynerian for advice on any matter. Luxan romance probably included screaming, blood, and throwing heavy objects, so asking D'argo was out of the question, even if they did get along. He had concluded Zhaan would be the best source of information on the subject when the tether line grew taut and abruptly jerked him off his feet. Laying on his back in the snow, he wondered what happened, then began to laugh into the wind as he realized he was so deep in thought he failed to notice he'd come to the end of his rope... so to speak.  
  
He lined up the dim glow from the first two glowsticks as best as he could in a straight line then drove in the first of the metal rods into the snow. He activated a third stick and attached it along with end of the tether line to the pole. He turned his back to the new glowstick and continued on his way, looking over his shoulder every few microts to be sure he was traveling in as straight a line with the other markers as possible. Whenever a glowstick became too dim, he stopped and set up another pole and stick to mark the way back. He lost track of time and his timepiece beeped to tell him the arn was up. Turning back towards the Pod he waited and a few microts later a pulse bolt shot upward into the air and exploded. Chiana's signal was right on time. He took the pulse rifle from the sled and fired three rounds skyward in return to tell the woman that he was still searching for the Pod's drive. Slinging the rifle over his shoulder, he continued on.  
Their next exchange of signals was due in another 15 microns. He pulled the sled far enough to set another marker and was moving on when his foot broke through the snow up to his knee. The ice was thinner here.  
Freeing his leg he took a moment to scan the area, the blowing snow making the act difficult to say the least. He missed it on the first pass, but on the second look, he noticed a patch of area that was darker then the rest of the surrounding snowscape. He un-harnessed the sled and drove in a pole and glowstick to mark its position. Plowing through the snow better than knee deep, he moved in closer to investigate. As he neared, the shape slowly took form. The first thing he could make out was a thruster port, and he let out a sigh of relief... he'd found the drive section.  
  
Berret worked his way around from the exhaust part of the drive to the end that had sheared off. Much of the outer hull was blow apart as fuel reserves had exploded, the torn off end allowed him to view the part of the drive that contained the four main fuel tanks. He chose a yellow glowstick from his supply and set it alight. In the bright glow of the stick, his heart sank as the light revealed that the three tanks in plain view were totally destroyed. The shielded area around each burnt by the intense heat of the fires. The fourth tank lay hidden beneath hull and engine wreckage. Not holding out much hope for the survival of the last tank he climbed into the section of pod and started to work removing the blockage. He lost track of time working but he soon had the tank uncovered. Bringing the glowstick closer to examine the unburied equipment, he stood stunned for a microt and then let out a victorious yell... the tank was scorched but unbroken! Thank the Goddess for Peacekeeper Pod construction! Checking his chron, he realized he'd missed Chiana's next signal by several microns. He hurried out of the Pod wreckage and unslung the Pulse rifle. Once outside he fired four rounds into the air, waited several microts and fired four more. Off in the distance he saw Chiana's answering volleys. The message was understood.  
  
He set more glowsticks to mark the end of the trail and bulled the sled as close to the drive section as he could. Inside the section he found the valve shunt intact. Now the difficult part of the work began because he had to work without gloves. His hands quickly became numb from the cold and handling metal parts, but he managed to attach the length of hose to the fuel tank's nozzle. He had to hand pump the tank to build up pressure to remove the fuel, which took time and made his hands ache from the cold temperatures. Once the tank was primed he started to fill the containers he brought from the other section of the Pod. While the cans filled, he blew on his hands and tried to re-warm them as best as he could. He'd only brought four quad-liter cans; thinking anymore would make the sled too heavy to travel over the snow. When the cans where filled he secured the tank and piled a few pieces of wreckage over it to protect it from the elements.  
He loaded them back aboard the sled and began the trek back to the passenger part of the Pod, easily following the glow of the markers one to another. The sled pulled somewhat harder on the way back but the trip went quicker because he didn't have to keep stopping to set up further markers. His hands still had not thawed out but at least he was able to jam them under his wrappings to keep them warmer. He was beginning to tire when he found the tether-line, a few microns later the shape of the Pod started to take form before him. Standing just outside the hatchway was the small figure wrapped in her cargo canvas. When Chiana saw him emerge from the blowing snow, she ran to meet him and jumped into his arms and hugged him in welcome. She grabbed one of the ropes to the sled and together they pulled the sled the last few drec to the downed Pod. As fast as possible they unload the cargo from the sled and brought everything inside and resealed the hatch. Exhausted, Berret stripped off most of his covering and collapsed into a seat. Clutching his cold burned hands under his arms he said to Chiana, "I'm afraid you and Rygel will have to complete the hook ups... I don't think I'll be able to help you." 


	5. Chapter 4

"Hold frelling still!" Chiana scolded Berret a short time later as she tried to bandage his hands.  
"Ouch!" complained the Shrike. Berret had managed to peel patches of skin from his hands while working with the cold metal of the drive section and the microbes seemed to not be healing the damage as they should have. Chiana found an ointment in the first aid kit and had used it and some torn pieces of the cloth she'd purchased at the market to tend the wounds.  
"What's the matter? Did I hurt the big bad assassin?" the Nebari woman teased with a lopsided grin.  
"That is not funny!" said Berret sullenly. Chiana gave a chuckle and padded his leg when she was done.  
"Ohhhhhh!" moaned Rygel lightly as he stretched out before a heat duct feet first. "This is heaven!" he exclaimed as the warm air rushed over him. He and Chiana had managed to tap into the Pod's life support unit and adapt it to use the fuel to run the heating elements. The Pod had a bitter metallic smell from the fuel, but it was better then freezing. "I believe I shall not move from this spot until we are rescued," said the Hynerian as he rested his head on his arms and closed his eyes.  
"You probably won't move from that spot even when we are rescued!" shot back Chiana in a good mood.  
"You are probably right!" agreed Rygel in return.  
Chiana grabbed Berret by the sleeve. "Come on," she said and pulled him toward the bed.  
She sat him down then brought over a tray of food for him. "I want you to eat now... maybe then the microbes will start to do their jobs." she said to him. He tried several times to use the fork but his hands had become too sore to cooperate. After dropping it repeatedly he cursed and pushed the tray away from him in frustration.   
"It's okay," Chiana said. "I'll help you." She then picked up the fork and attempted to feed him.  
He suddenly slapped her hand away and snapped, "I am not a child!"  
Chiana looked at him in shock and then became angry. "I never said you were!"  
He got up and stalked to the back of the pod, Chiana following right behind him.  
"What is the matter with you?" she demanded. "I'm only trying to help."  
He was silent a few microts and it almost seemed like he would refuse to answer when he finally said,  
"I don't know. Everything... nothing." He turned to look at her, "Me. You. This whole frelling thing!" he finished, waving a hand to indicate everything around them.  
"Hey, it's okay.... you're just tired. You know the microbes make you sleepy sometimes while they repair you." Chiana said trying to soothe him.   
"It's more then that," he responded.  
"Well, talk to me," she told him. "We've always have in the past. Hey, don't you think we make a good team?" she asked trying to get him to smile and open up to her. "Partners in crime shouldn't have any secrets from each other."  
Not speaking, he sighed and sat down in a nearby jump seat. Chiana sat down next to him, not letting the subject go. "On Moya, we all help each other out. At times we argue and fight, but everyone is always there for everyone else... even Rygel!" she added with a small laugh. "That's how we survive. I learned a long time ago you can't always stand alone." She cocked her head at him. "You talk to Zhaan about things, and to tell you the truth... I'm beginning to get jealous," she said gently taking his hand.  
  
He snorted at her persistence. Chiana felt that she had hit on the problem. "Is that it? Is it something you and Zhaan have uncovered? She's very tight lipped about your sessions."   
He carefully took her hand off of his and placed it back in her own lap. He rested his head back against the bulkhead and began to speak.  
"I am sorry for how I acted. You are very... important to me," he started. "I'm also grateful for the kindness and tolerance that you and the others have shown me... and your friendship. I've tried to be a useful member of this crew, but I don't believe I've contributed much beyond being able to do manual labor. I would never have known how to tap into the life support unit and convert it to use the fuel. The only use I can think of for the fuel is to make several weapons. My knowledge seems to limit itself in that regard. I have nothing useful to offer toward our survival."  
"That's why we help each other," Chiana broke in. "You do contribute. Neither Rygel nor I could have make that trip to the drive section and come back alive. We work best when we work together. We need each other. You need us and we need you... I need you," she added and then confessed, "The others... don't always listen to me, or take me seriously. To tell you the truth, they mostly treat me like a child... not that sometimes I don't deserve it, I admit. What I like about you is that you always listen to me. You don't judge me or dismiss what I have to say outright. A girl can get use to having you around," she said, elbowing him in the arm to make her point.  
  
He looked straight ahead and swallowed before he spoke slowly in a low voice.   
"Chiana... I have killed... entire families in their beds. I have maimed, tortured, and murdered, my way across entire sectors of space. I have unfeeling ended the lives of countless men and woman whom I never even knew, but I see their faces and hear their screams every night when I sleep. Every time Zhaan links with my mind, she sees and feels everything I have done... every life I have taken...and in the end I have to look in her eyes and see the pain I've caused her. Knowing she knows my shame but keeps it to herself."  
He looked over at Chiana, meeting her eyes for the first time since he started speaking.  
"Is this the kind of person you want around? Someone you want to be a 'partner'?" he asked.  
She made a point of reaching for and taking his hand again before answering. "When I first realized what you were in the alley, you scared me drenless. But there was something good about you that I sensed; I still feel that about you. I knew what you were and I also know you weren't that way by choice. What you did when with the Syndicate, you didn't do by free will. It's not your fault."   
She looked down at his hand and began to play with his fingers. "I also knew about your nightmares. You can't sleep next to a professional thief and expect to creep out of bed whenever you want," she explained with a smile. "I'd thought you'd talk about them with me when you were ready, so I didn't push the subject. I wish you would have before now though." She gripped his hand and he was glad for the contact even if it was slightly painful. "We've all done things we aren't proud of, but we have to get by them and move on with life... and try to do better the next time."  
Relieved that she accepted his confession without turning away, Berret sighed and laid his head on the small woman's shoulder. He closed his eyes for a few moments to rest and enjoy the company of his friend in the now finally warm shuttle. They sat together in silence and before he realized it, a few microts later... he'd fallen asleep.  
  
  
"We need to starburst immediately when we return to Moya," said D'argo.  
"Right, the others don't have that much time," responded Aeryn.  
Aeryn and D'argo were almost to the landing pad when the heard a shout.  
"STOP!" yelled one of Tarcus' men from behind them.  
Aeryn and D'argo turned to see 5 men coming their way. Aeryn drew her pulse pistol and Dargo withdrew his Qualta blade and quickly manipulated it into its rifle form. Aeryn managed to get off a couple shots, taking out one of the men. The Luxan warrior got off a shot taking out another man.  
"D'argo, let's go," said Aeryn as she and D'argo turned to run. They tried dodging the pulse-fire as it whizzed past them, occasionally turning back to return fire, and then kept running. They almost managed to reach the Transport Pod when one of the shots struck Aeryn in the back. Not noticing, D'argo kept running.  
"D'argo!" Aeryn said as she gasped for air. It was then that the Luxan realized that she was no longer beside him.  
"Aeryn!" D'argo yelled as he ran back a little distance to where Aeryn had fallen. He had taken out another man with his rifle and dodged several more pulse bolts. He picked Aeryn up and hoisted her over his shoulder and began to run with her. He turned to fire, yet again, as he hid behind a barrier on the launch pad. When he reached the Pod he quickly put a semiconscious Aeryn in and got off a couple more rounds before climbing into the ship himself.  
Once in the ship, the warrior started up the engines and lifted off as soon as he could. The transport's thruster ports kicked up debris and dust, blinding their pursuing attackers. Leaving them unable to fire at the departing craft.  
When he thought he was a safe distance from the planet he activated his comm.  
"Pilot! Ready Moya for immediate starburst, and Zhaan...?"  
"Yes, D'argo?" she answered back immediately.  
"Ready the medical bay. Aeryn's been injured," said D'argo looking at a now unconscious ex-Peacekeeper.  
"Oh God! D'argo, what happened?" John asked. D'argo could tell by the sound of his voice how frightened he was knowing how close he and Aeryn had become.  
"I'll explain it when we get back," is all D'argo could say.  
  
John and Zhaan were waiting in the hangar bay when D'argo had landed the Pod. After he shut down the engines he popped open the hatchway. John ran hurriedly over to where Aeryn laid unconscious behind D'argo.   
"Oh God, D'argo! What happened to her?" John asked as he took one look at Aeryn noticing the blood on the jump seat. "Zhaan! Get over here now," he demanded.  
"John, I'm sorry. I tried to get her back as soon as possible," D'argo said as they exited the transport with the wounded Sebacean woman. John picked Aeryn up and carried her to where Zhaan stood with a makeshift stretcher. He gently laid her down and they proceeded down the corridor towards the medical bay.  
"Aeryn? Baby, can you here me?" John asked pleadingly. "Come on, sunshine. Don't do this to me. Zhaan will she be alright?" he asked.  
"I don't know, dear. We'll have to see as soon as we get her to the medical unit and I can fully examine her," the Delvian answered.   
"Pilot, as soon as we're secured in the medical unit, I want you to Starburst out of here," demanded D'argo.  
"Yes, Ka'D'Argo," answered Pilot.  
When they reached the med bay the readied themselves for Starburst.  
"Prepare for immediate Starburst," Pilot announced to all hands.   
They all held onto something while in Starburst. John held onto Aeryn as much as he could without causing her further injury. After they came out of Starburst, Zhaan began to extensively examine Aeryn.  
"John, Dargo... why don't you two go and help Pilot. And someone needs to be up at command to help navigate," said Zhaan  
"No, Zhaan. I'm staying right here. D'argo can go," John said sternly.  
"John, let's go and let Zhaan do what she has to do," D'argo said putting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.  
"No, Dargo. I'm not leaving her. I told her once that I'd never leave her and I meant it," John said angrily.  
"John dear, then please wait outside. I need to see how extensive the damage is and to do that I need to unclothe her," Zhaan said calmly.  
"Okay, Zhaan... outside then. I'll be right outside and you let me know the microt she wakes up. I mean it, Zhaan."   
Zhaan nodded her head in response.   
John and D'argo went outside the room and John leaned up against the wall and then slid down to sit on the floor. He rested his arms on his knees and put his head down.  
"D'argo, why don't you go up to Command? I'll wait here," John said with his head still down. D'argo knew better than to challenge the human when he was like this. Especially when it came to Aeryn. He knew that even if they did not seem to get along at times, deep down they had grown to care for one another. D'argo placed his hand on John's shoulder once more and left for the Command tier.  
  
Malika was still looking for more food with Andar when Pilot contacted her and told her what was going on in the Med-bay. As soon as they were out of Starburst, she decided to go find Zhaan, she could probably help if things were serious, "You coming, Andar?" she asked.  
  
As D'argo arrived on the Command tier Pilot appeared on the holo-com, clamoring for his attention.  
"Ka D'Argo! Moya's scans show what appears to be a Peacekeeper convoy in route between our current position and the coordinates you and Aeryn have given to me."  
"Have they detected us?" asked the Luxan in sudden alarm.  
"No. We have exited Starburst on the opposite side of a large planetoid on our way in-system. At this time we are protected by the planetoid's mass," explained Pilot.  
"How long until the convoy passes out of range?" D'argo asked him.  
"The vessels are mainly slow moving cargo transports meant for inter-system travel. It will be several arns before it is safe to proceed on course to that heading," replied Pilot.  
"Dren!" D'argo roared. He thought for several microts and then concluded, "Then there is nothing more we can do. I will inform the others... at least Zhaan will have time to see to Aeryn's wounds then."  
  
Zhaan began to take off Aeryn's top and view the wound. She wiped the wound with a sterile cloth so she could examine it further. She then ran the scanner over her upper body to see how extensive the damage was. Looking at the image up on the viewer, she could see that the wound was not as bad as she thought it was. Aeryn had lost a lot of blood but the pulse bolt had not caused any internal damage and there was no damage done to any major organs. Relieved at her findings, Zhaan proceeded to dress the wound. Since Aeryn had lost so much blood, Zhaan would need to replenish the blood loss. Andar was yet too weak to help and since there was not another Sebacean onboard she would have to substitute. After cleaning the wound and cauterizing it Zhaan began to search her apothecary for herbs that could help Aeryn regain her strength when she woke  
  
John sat with his head up against Moya's bulkhead for what seemed like arns. "Come on, Zhaan. What's going on in there?" he whispered to himself. Just as he finished his sentence, the Delvian came out.  
"Zhaan, what's going on? Is Aeryn alright?" John said jumping up from the floor.  
"Yes, my dear. She will be fine. The wound wasn't as bad as it looked," answered Zhaan placing a calming hand on John's arm.  
"But there was so much blood, Zhaan."  
"I know... but there wasn't any extensive damage done. She has lost a lot of blood and she will be weak for a couple of days but with time, she will heal."   
"Oh, thank you! Thank you, Zhaan," John said relieved. He hugged Zhaan tightly. "Can I see her?" he asked.  
"Yes, my dear. Although she will probably be unconscious for a while," Zhaan replied.  
"I don't care, Zhaan, I just want to see her. I need to make sure she's all right. It's my fault she's in there in the first place," John said rubbing his eyes as if he could hold back his tears.  
'John, do not blame yourself for this. She wouldn't want you to. She did it because she cares for you. She knows that you would do the same because you care for her. This is not your fault," Zhaan said placing her hand on his cheek.  
"Then why do I feel so bad, so guilty?" he asked looking her in eyes.  
"John do not... what's the human phrase you use, beat yourself up. It will not help Aeryn get well." Zhaan smiled as she cupped John's face with her hands.  
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks, Blue. Thanks for everything," John said smiling back at her.  
"You're welcome, my dear. Come, let's go see Aeryn," Zhaan said leading him into med-bay.  
  
John walked over to sit next to Aeryn. He looked her body up and down to assure himself that she was indeed okay. Zhaan continued to work with her herbs to come up with something that would help Aeryn heal as soon as she woke up. John placed his hand on Aeryn's and spoke softly to her.  
"I'm sorry, Aeryn... for everything. For this, for everything that's happened in the past. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be in this mess in the first place."   
He began stroking her forehead and smoothing back her hair. He just sat and stared at her for several microts.  
"Zhaan?" Pilots voice broke the silence.  
"Yes, go ahead Pilot," she answered.  
"Ka'D'Argo asked me to inform you and Commander Crichton of our current situation," Pilot responded. Zhaan looked over at John who seemed to be ignoring the conversation.  
"What is it, Pilot?" she asked.  
"There is a Peacekeeper convoy in route between our current position and the planet where Rygel and the others are located," said Pilot. That got John's attention.  
"Peacekeepers?" John said surprised. "Have they spotted us?"  
"No, Commander. We are on the opposite side of a large planetoid. We are currently protected by its mass," replied Pilot.  
"When will it be safe to emerge then, Pilot?" asked Zhaan.  
"Given the speed of the transports, it will not be for several arns," replied Pilot.  
"Well, what are we supposed to do until then?" asked John, annoyed at the situation.  
"We wait, Commander," Pilot answered.  
John put his head down on the side of Aeryn's bed and sighed heavily.   
"Thank you, Pilot," said Zhaan.  
"Commander Crichton?"  
"Yeah, Pilot?" John answered, raising his head.  
"D'argo could use your help in Command."  
"Yeah. Okay, Pilot. I'll be there in a microt," he said looking up at Aeryn again. "I have to go now, baby. Sleep well." He bent down and kissed Aeryn on the forehead. He walked over to Zhaan. "Stay with her, Zhaan... and call me the microt she wakes up."  
" Of course. I will do that, John. Go now and help D'argo," Zhaan said as she placed a calming hand on his arm. John turned and took one last look at Aeryn and left for command.  
  
Berret awoke with Chiana curled up next to him. Sometime during the night Chiana had awaken him from where he'd fallen asleep on her shoulder and forced him to eat something, then they retired to the makeshift bed. Only having to use his cloak as a cover. They had become so accustom to the howl of the wind outside the Pod, that they hardly heard it any longer, now it was just background noise. What he did hear was the constant rumble that was Rygel snoring. The Hynerian was still laid out in front of the heat vent, the small being having made himself a bed there. The loud sawing noise was a welcomed change over the almost silent way the little pest slept while they almost froze to death thought the ex-assassin. Berret looked down at the sleeping Nebari girl and a feeling of content swept over him as he recalled her acceptance of his confession without her turning away from him. It was a great weight off his shoulders.  
  
He remembered her bandaging his hands and he flexed them as a test. There was very little pain in them this morning so he undid the wraps and found that at some time during the night, the microbes had begun to repair the damage he had suffered. He eased himself from the homemade mattress and made use of the small head aboard the Pod, it was a small favor that the convenience survived the crash and was still useable. After he was finished he padded passed his still sleeping crewmates and made his way to the cockpit, stopping to get himself a cup of what Crichton said almost passed for something called Tea on their home planet, he couldn't recall all the different names the beverage went by at the moment. He plopped himself down into a cockpit seat and cycled open a port window. Gazing out at the blowing snow, he drank his hot drink. He'd begun to think that maybe they would indeed die here. It was hard to believe that the others could ever find them.  
He was so lost in thought he'd lost track of the time. He'd almost finished the cup when he noticed he had been hearing a noise that didn't belong. Sitting up straight in his chair he listen for the sound again. It seemed almost like a tiny voice, coming from under a pile of parts and tools stacked on top of the control panel. Berret moved the objects around until he found the source of the disturbance. It was Chiana's comm badge. The Nebari had removed it while working on the controls and had not bothered to replace it, being that the devices required the Pod's communication repeater to function away from Moya. The communication system being destroyed, he'd left his own comm badge with his armor. There was a weak signal coming from the device. Listening closer he heard a voice through the heavy static. Hope began to rise within him and he tried to make out the words the voice was saying. The comm could only work now if Moya was in the area.  
  
After a few microts, he made out part of what was being broadcasted.  
"...scans of the ****sector***complete. No sign**********of the transport. Moving to****"  
His blood ran cold. Someone was searching for them, but it wasn't Moya or their crewmates.  
He didn't recognize the first male voice or the second. "We have to**ind that frellin'***Pod, before***  
***or we ain't*****paid!" exclaimed the second man.  
Berret jumped to his feet and hurried back to the rear section of the transport. As he passed by the sleeping Hynerian, he tapped Rygel with his foot.  
"What?" said the awakened Dominar sleepily.  
"We'll have company shortly... of the bad sort," said the Shrike.  
Leaving the Hynerian to digest the news, he moved to the bed and more gently attempted to wake the Pixie.  
Chiana's white haired head emerged from beneath his cloak startled as he shook her shoulder. Her hand following ready to strike him before she realized who it was that woke her. Berret having been struck soundly several times in the past by the abruptly awakened Nebari gently caught the arm without thinking.   
"What's goin' on?" asked the girl, blinking the sleep from her dark eyes.  
"We have trouble," stated Berret.  
  
Berret quickly explained what happened to the two. When he was finished, Chiana shot out of bed and began preparing weapons, stopping only to grab a few food cubes and stuff them into her mouth as she worked. Rygel sat down and activated his own comm badge to monitor the search party's communication signal. "I think it's getting closer!" he shouted to the others.  
"The storm is still going outside... maybe they won't find us in it," threw in Chiana.  
"That is my hope. But if they are scanning with ship sensors, they probably will locate the Pod's hull eventually," responded Berret as he donned his armor.  
"That's what I like about you, Shrike. You're such a shining ray of frelling hope," growled Rygel  
"Anything for you... your Toadness," murmured Berret.  
"What are we gonna do when they get here?" asked Chiana  
Berret thought a moment. "The only plan I can come up with this microt is to wait until they land. Then you and Rygel will try to hold them off here."  
"And what will you be doing?" asked Rygel suspiciously.  
Scowling at the Hynerian he answered, "I will be outside... putting my 'skills' to use," He said the word skills with a hint of distaste. "Try and not shoot me by mistake, you nearsighted slug," he finished.  
Rygel grinned wickedly. "I shall endeavor to do my best," he said, being deliberately vague.  
"Yeah," said Chiana, ignoring Rygel and Berret's bickering. "We kill them all and then take their ship. We boost outta here back to Moya and kiss this ice cube goodbye... I like that plan."  
Berret frowned slightly at his friend's casual dismissal of having to kill, then again the people about to arrive certainly had something to do with their being trapped and almost dying here. So he guessed they would only be getting what they deserved. Chiana was a survivor. She'd run first if she could but if backed into a corner, she'd be quick to deal death if she had too. He'd try to except this as a necessity and learn to follow her example... to only kill as a last resort, not as a universal solution to solve all problems.  
  
Berret decided to use Chiana's idea of tying the cloak tightly around him for warmth. He found a white sheet of bedding material and torn it into manageable strips, which he wrapped around his torso and limbs to create winter camouflage. The dark and light colors would effectively break of his outline once outside the Pod. Chiana strapped on extra charge clips for the Pulse-rifles and the Shrike had given Rygel his Pulse pistol seeing the Hynerian was too small to handle the larger weapons. When they finished, Rygel and the Nebari girl sat around and listened to the radio traffic on the comm. Berret moved off by himself and sat cross-legged on the floor. He closed his eyes and his fingers intertwined and worked themselves into strange configurations which Zhaan had shown him, which he claimed helped him meditate. After almost an arn of silence, Chiana stole a worried glance at her friend. She knew he was searching for that part of him that he'd rather forget. Attempting to bring the killer in him to the surface. She idly wondered if he succeeded in finding him, would she ever have the 'Ret she knew back again. 


	6. Chapter 5

The signal faded and got stronger several times, then the comm finally issued a strong burst of static and a voice cried, "I've found it! I found the Leviathan's Transport Pod!"   
The voice read a set of coordinates off to its comrades while Chiana and Rygel's faces fell.  
"Well, that's it," uttered the Hynerian. "They found us."  
At the words, Berret's eyes snapped open. Chiana had never seen him operating as an Enforcer. When they'd first met he was in a state of confusion. Now she gave an involuntary shiver as their eyes met. There no longer stood her friend... she was looking into the dead eyes of a Shrike assassin.   
Berret smoothly got to his feet and walked to the hatchway.  
"Prepare yourselves," he said, his voice dull and unemotional as he wrapped a length of white cloth over the bottom half of his face so only his eyes showed. He cycled the hatch and without a further word disappeared out into the blowing snow. Rygel and Chiana took positions at the barricade they had erected earlier just inside the hatchway.  
"That was frelling creepy," said Rygel, referring to Berret's transformation.  
"...Yeah," breathlessly said the Nebari, having to agree.  
"You don't suppose he'll go totally farhbot out there and not remember to stop the killing with just our un-welcomed visitors, do you?" he asked.  
Stunned, Chiana looked at Rygel. "I dunno... I hadn't thought about that," she answered.  
"Well, if he comes back and so much as looks cockeyed at me, I'm going to plant a pulse bolt... right... between... his... eyes!" Rygel finished by tapping the barrel of the pistol against the barricade with each word.  
Chiana swallowed. "...Yeah," she said quietly, silently hoping it didn't come to that, but caressing the handle of her Pulse-rifle without thinking, and finding a degree of comfort in the action.  
Somewhere outside they could hear the retro thrusters of ships firing for a landing.  
"Here we go," she muttered.  
  
John entered Command to find D'argo studying one of the control panels.  
"So D'argo, any idea on how to get around this convoy?" he asked.  
"No, Pilot says they're still moving too slowly and he doesn't want to take any chances on being spotted," D'argo answered. John sighed heavily and sat at one of the tables. He rested his head on his hands and stifled a yawn. D'argo walked over to him and sat next to his friend placing a hand on John's shoulder.  
"What's the news on Aeryn? Will she be alright?" D'argo asked.  
"Well, she's still unconscious, but that's because she's lost a lot of blood. Zhaan says she'll be all right. A little weak when she wakes up, but she'll be fine."  
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect her, John," D'argo said sadly.  
John raised his head to look at him. "You did everything you could. You got her back here. That's all that matters," D'argo smiled weakly at John's comment and they sat staring out the view-port for several microts. "Oh, and by the way, D'argo?"  
"Yes, John?"  
"Thank you."  
"For what, John? I've done nothing to deserve your thanks," D'argo replied.  
"You've saved Aeryn's life. That means more to me than you'll ever know, big guy. And you've been a good friend," John said as he stuck his hand out in a handshake gesture. D'argo took his friend's hand in his and they shook hands. "Now... let's find a way outta here. We have people to rescue." They both turned their attentions to the comms to figure out a way to get to the ice moon.  
  
The two ships landed almost side by side. Berret watched the eight men work their way through snowdrifts that were almost waist deep at times. He had stuck to the ice packed crash trail the Pod had left. He could see that soon the men would come across it and then their traveling would become easier. He calculated their path and going down on all fours, his nose just mere hentas above the snow, he slithered into a position where they would pass close by him. Once there, he covered himself over with snow, not feeling the cold. In microts the wind and falling snow obliterated any sign he was there.  
The group of men hit the ice trail and guided by a magnetic scanner, headed in the direction of the downed Pod. As they passed by him, the Shrike noted that they were armed with an assortment of pulse weapons; most appeared homemade or just of poor quality. The group was strung out, each man taking turns breaking a trail through the snow. Two came within hentas of stepping on the assassin. The last man was well behind the others, just having been replaced by another from his turn at plowing a path in the snow. As he drew even with Berret, the Shrike exploded from his hiding place. The beings eyes grew large behind his facemask at the sudden appearance of the apparition and the warning he was about shout die in his throat as serrated blades sheared through that part of his anatomy. The Shrike rolled the still dying body off to the side and began to dog the rest of the party. Following just close enough so that they looked only like dull shapes on the path ahead of him. Microns later they approached a section of the trail where both the sides of the route ran downhill. The last man turned and seeing the dark shape lagging behind the group waved him forward to catch up, believing he was the recently deceased member of squad. The Shrike picked up his pace and closed with the new target quickly. As he neared, the man turned to shout something to him over the howl of the wind and realized the person behind them wasn't part of the team.   
He reacted quicker then the first man, getting a warning off and managing to raise his pulse rifle halfway across the front of his body before the Shrike's blades cut the cheap weapon in two and went on to bury themselves deep into his belly. The rifle discharged off to one side as it was destroyed, alerting the entire group. As one, they turned to discover the Shrike still holding up their comrade. The blades having pinned the man through part of the rifle's stock and the gun's sling, causing the Shrike trouble in disengaging them. They opened fire on the pair. Pulse bolts tore into the assassin's victim and pounded into his armor plates. As the plates absorbed the bolts energy, they turned from a metallic black to burnt-brown. Once struck by a pulse bolt the plates lost their ability to deflect energy until they could be ran through a molecular re-aligner and the molecules in the metal reorganized in the proper sequence. Berret freed his weapon from the man's body and a pulse bolt struck the armor covering his left thigh for the second time, blowing through the plate and his leg. Unbalanced, the Shrike tumbled along with the body down the right side of the hill, both becoming lost from sight in the blowing snow.   
"Did we get him?" one brigand asked the others.   
"No one can survive that many hits," replied the leader. "That must have been the bodyguard, the Boss told us about. That leaves the Hynerian and the little Nebari bitch all alone, and easy pickin's," he leered behind his mask. The first freebooter looked down the incline trying to see where the Shrike and their fellow group member had fallen.   
"What about Norfolk?' he asked about the missing man.   
"Frell him!" came the reply, "...one less cut to split the reward with. Now let's go."  
  
Berret rolled the body off from on top of him and attempted to sit up. A bolt of agony shot through his wounded thigh and he hissed at the pain. Something was wrong; he should not have made that big of a mistake. His ingrained training and instincts were failing him. In the memories that Zhaan had helped bring back, he'd always carried off his 'missions' in a calm and efficient manner. This time, there were too many thoughts cluttering his mind and distracting him. He realized that the collar must have helped him in some way to focus on the course of action needed at the time. He almost chuckled as he came to the conclusion that being self-aware had its drawbacks. A nagging voice in the back of his mind itched to be heard. It was a dull, emotionless voice... something dark that wanted to be set free... something dark as the blackest pitch.  
It was telling him, that it alone had the skills necessary to do what had to be done... if only he would turn it loose... give it control of his body again. Berret tried to ignore the voice, thinking he must be hallucinating; the cold and the pain from the wound must be getting to him. He removed the shattered piece of armor from his thigh and examined the wound. It wasn't good. It seemed it was too cold again for the microbes to begin repairing it... and he was slowly bleeding out.   
He torn off some of the white strips of cloth and packed them as best as he could into his wound to stop the blood flow. He used the length of clothe he had covering his face to tie the makeshift bandages together. He picked up the armor and quickly inspected it. The piece was burnt through and would have to be patched before it was re-aligned. The alloys required could be easily obtained and mix-forged when they got back to Moya he thought as he strapped it back in place over the bandage. 'If' they get back to Moya he mentally corrected himself. He got to his feet and tested his leg... it hurt like hezmana, but held him up for the time being. "Release me and you won't feel the pain," said the voice, "You've already gone halfway. Free me and we will kill them all... just as we have always done... as we always will."  
Berret froze in mid stride. He was not imagining it; the voice was really there. Trying to call up his talents by meditation also called up something else... his past, the Shrike.... had a life of it's own.  
Berret painfully made his way back up to the trail. The party of invaders was gone as he arrived at the scene of the short battle. He started along the snow-covered path after them but his pace was agonizingly slow. He knew they would be on Chiana and Rygel at any microt. He tried to pick up his pace but the wounded leg wouldn't cooperate. "You're weak!" the voice chided him. "You'll never make it in time... you'll never kill the enemy without my help," it whispered.  
"I don't need your help," Berret muttered aloud. "Go away!"  
The voice was silent for a few microns, and then the pulse fire began somewhere up ahead. Berret attempted to run but the leg collapsed under the sudden stress. The Shrike hit the ground and then slammed his fist into the snow in frustration. "Chiana!" he thought helplessly as the rate of pulse fire increased.  
"OBEY ME, SHRIKE!' roared the voice. "Release me or fail your mission."  
With no other option left to him to aid his crewmates, Berret surrendered to the voice and gave up his free will. Something ran through him and the pain in his leg faded. That was the last sensation he could recall before everything went gray and his conscience mind was pushed out of his body. The creature that rose from the snow and sped toward the firefight at the Pod was no longer the being called Berret.  
  
The Cutthroats approached the downed Pod brazenly. As soon as they moved in close enough for them to make out the two heads peeking out from behind the thrown together barricade blocking the hatchway, the leader called out for them to surrender, thinking that they were unarmed and could be easily intimidated.  
"FRELL YOU!" shouted Chiana as she opened up on the men with her pulse-rifle, blowing the chest out of the man standing next to the leader with her first shot. Rygel fired a microt behind her and shot a second man in the right arm, spinning him around with the impact of the bolt. His second shot hit the man in the neck, dropping him in his place.   
"...AND YOUR MOTHER TOO!" added Rygel. The four remaining men found what cover they could and returned fire on the Pod, the barrage forcing Chiana and Rygel to duck behind their own cover. The exchange of pulse fire lasted for microns, with both sides not really hitting anything further. The men outside poured shot after shot at the occupants of the wrecked ship, hitting only the hull and the makeshift barricade. Chiana took turns holding up the two Pulse-rifles over the barricade by their handle grip and blindly running dry the power packs one after another, hoping to hit someone by luck.  
  
At the first pause in the shooting the leader shouted to them again. "You might as well give up. Your hired muscle is dead.... there's no one left to help you and no way for you to leave this snowball. Make it easy on yourselves and throw down your guns!" Chiana looked at Rygel.  
"Do you think they got Berret?" she asked him.  
"I don't know... he could be lying. Then again, where is he? Why isn't he helping us?" said the Hynerian. Mumbling more to himself, he added, "I bet that bastard left us here alone so he could get away."  
"Berret wouldn't do that!" said Chiana in her friend's defense.  
"Face it, Whitey.... you don't know what he would or wouldn't do for sure, do you?" he replied grimily.  
One of the brigands made a move trying to make it to another piece of cover when Rygel drew a bead and shot the man through the stomach. "Gotcha, you backstabbing piece of dren," he said.  
Another tried to finishing dragging the downed man behind his cover and Chiana was able to get a shot off which winged him in the arm. The man scrambled back behind his mound of dirt and snow, a few microts later the man Rygel shot stopped crying and moving. No one tried again to retrieve the body.  
"Frelling dren!" shouted Chiana after her wounding of the cutthroat.  
"How many does that make it still out there?" she asked.  
"Still three," replied Rygel, checking the charge in the pulse pistol.  
She was just about to ask another question when something flew from behind a mound of snow and bounced to within a few hentas of the Pod's hatchway. They both recognized the shape at the same microt.  
"Shatter Grenade!" they both shouted together.  
Instead of the bone breaking blast they expected, there was a bright flash and a loud bang.  
Blind and deaf for several microts, they knew they were lost as someone rushed in and disarmed them, roughly shoving them to the floor of the Pod.  
  
The man Chiana had wounded remained outside standing guard while the other two went inside to secure the prisoners. He cursed under his breath at being left out. He'd heard the Nebari female was quite the looker and he was sure his leader and Tuttles would be having their fun with her before turning her over to the man who hired them. He supposed guard duty was his punishment for being stupid enough to get himself wounded. He hoped he'd get a turn with the girl later after they've had their fun. He heard his boss laugh at some joke he'd made and tried not to think too much about what he was missing inside. He paced several steps away from the Pod's hatchway so he wouldn't have to hear what was going on. No sense thinking about it until the boss let him have his turn at the girl.  
He swore again as his arm gave him a new wave of pain from the gunshot wound. He vowed he'd make the little tralk pay for what she did. What the others were doing to her now will be nothing to what I'll do to her later he thought. Something thumped the ground behind him and he spun around, rifle at the ready.  
There was nothing there at first glance. Scanning the area he finally saw an almost perfect sphere of hard packed snow lying on the ground near his feet. He bent down and picked it up, wondering where it came from. He examined it for a microt and then a thought, which caused a feeling of dread, came to him. He dropped the sphere and knowing somehow that it was already too late. He slowly turned around... and looked right into a silently snarling face. The silver-tinted eyes making it look like something straight out of hezmana itself. He didn't even have time to scream before he died.  
  
The two brigands had the drop on Chiana and Rygel. The crewmates seeing they didn't have a chance offered no resistance and surrendered. The Leader stepped into the Pod while the other man kept them covered from the hatchway. He approached the pair and seeing Chiana up close for the first time, openly leered. Rygel tried to divert his attention.  
"What is the meaning of this attack? I'll have you know you have assaulted the personage of Dominar Rygel the Sixteenth...."  
The Brigand Leader backhanded the Hynerian without even glancing in his direction, sending him flying into a bulkhead.   
"Shut your trap, Swamp-puppy!" he snarled. Not taking his eyes off Chiana, he continued to her. "I can see why the 'Boss Man' wants you back in one piece. You're a beautiful little tralk. I bet you'll fetch quite a price on the slave block. Though if it were me, I'd keep you for myself." He ran a finger along her cheek and tilted her chin up to get a better look at her, only to have the Nebari spit into his face in contempt. To her surprise the strike she was expecting from the insult never came, instead the big man laughed as he wiped the spittle from his own cheek.  
"You know... you and the green runt over there cost me a lot of good men, reliable help is hard to find in my profession, you know. I don't think the Boss would mind too much if we took a 'little trade' out in restitution." His eyes traveled down her body meaningfully.  
  
Before Chiana could move, the Brigand grabbed her and pulled her close to him. Laughing even harder at her struggles, he began ripping at her tarp coverings to get at her clothes beneath. Rygel's wispy eyebrows drooped as he realized there was nothing he could do to aid his crewmate.  
"What do you say, Tuttles?" he asked merrily, pausing at his attempt to disrobe her and turning to the man at the hatch. "Should we party with the Snow-girl here?"  
In response, the man at the hatch made an odd choking sound.   
"...Tuttles?" asked the Leader again confused.   
Tuttles opened his mouth as if to speak and a river of blood rolled out instead. He dropped his rifle and jerked as if in a convulsion. Two blades burst through the front of his chest. With a sickening ripping noise the blades withdrew from the man and he slumped lifelessly to the deck, revealing the Shrike standing behind him and snarling like a mad animal. Standing stunned and speechless, the remaining Brigand gave Chiana her chance. Using her powerful leg muscles, she drove her knee up into the region she hoped contained the man's sex organs. You can never be to sure with all the different species in the territories, but she was rewarded with the man doubling over with a deep groan of pain. She clasped both of her hands together to make one big fist and swung them up into his face with all the force she could muster. Her would-be rapist's head shot backward and teeth flew from the blow. He fell heavily to the deck on his knees.  
  
As fast as Chiana's attack was, the wounded Shrike had covered the distance from the hatchway. In one swift move he buried one set of his blades into the kneeling man's forehead. His skull made a cracking sound as the edged weapons were pulled out. As the body fell to the deck, the Shrike crouched down, looking for another opponent. Chiana was shocked still by her friend's appearance, which probably saved her life. He was pulse burned, covered in blood, and his loose wild hair prevented her from seeing his face clearly. Rygel, on the other hand saw the wild crazed look in his eyes. Inhaling audibly, the Hynerian made a dash for the pulse pistol lying on the deck between them. The Shrike sensed the danger and turned his attention toward the small being. Amazing even himself, Rygel almost made it to the weapon on the floor. An armored boot slammed down on the pistol, trapping it just as his hand touched the grip. Looking up at the assassin he saw the blades descending downward at him. The serrated edges cut the air, the whistling sound his death song. Rygel closed his eyes and waited for the end. The last thing he heard was Chiana's cry.  
  
"BERRET! STOP!" Chiana screamed at the top of her lungs. Rygel realized after a microt that the scream hurt his ears, then he realized he wasn't dead yet if his ears were able to hurt. He opened his eyes to see the Shrike still standing over him. The gore covered blades hovering mere mili-hentas from the side of his head, so close he could feel the slight humming vibration the strange metal gave off. The Shrike was breathing heavily, his eyes still had a wild shine about them and they remained locked on Rygel. Despite his situation, the Hynerian oddly noticed that the man's eyes also had a silver tint to them, probably a result of the strange microbes work to keep the Enforcer from becoming snow blind when he was outside the Pod, he thought. Chiana took a step closer, calling to him, but with her Pulse rifle leveled.   
"Berret?" she said softly and then tried his real name "Jared?" Berret tensed at the sound of her voice behind him and the blades wavered closer to Rygel's head.   
"Ack! Stay where you are, you skinny assed bitch!" Rygel stammered in panic. "Stay were you are and don't gris him off anymore then he is! I told you he'd go farhbot out there," he hissed.  
  
Ignoring Rygel's outburst, she slowly lowered the rifle until it was pointed at the floor.  
"Retty, listen to me," she said. "It's over. They're all gone now... we won. It's time to go home. Home to Moya."  
The Shrike turned to look at her, his unblinking eyes not so wild but still not saying anything.  
"You don't want to hurt Rygel," she tried, her voice softening further. "Rygel didn't mean to try and hurt you, he was just scared is all." She tilted her head and asked quizzingly, "You don't want to hurt anybody, do you?" Berret finally blinked his eyes and she realized she was reaching him, reason slowly returning to him. "You don't want to hurt me... do ya?" she asked, her dark eyes pleading with him.  
Berret blinked his eyes again and murmured quietly, "Pixie?"  
He slowly straightened up from over Rygel and both sets of blades retracted into the gauntlets. Rygel let out the breathe he'd been holding in and let his head fall back onto the deck as he relaxed from the stress of so many close calls with death in so short a time. Chiana sighed with relief as she covertly thumbed the rifle's safety back on. Berret looked around in confusion, then at the bodies he'd left laying on the floor. To Chiana's disappointment his eyes hardened and became emotionless once again, but at least they didn't have that wild quality about them now.  
"Get your packs, we have to leave this place now," he said, his voice lifeless and flat. He picked up a nearby pack and exited through the hatch to await them outside, not seeming to notice as he stepped over Tuttle's body. Chiana pushed back a tear as she realized her friend wasn't quite the person he had been, and may never be again after this day. She feared once the Shrike part of him got out, it seemed reluctant to let go and return the Berret she'd come to know. She picked up her pack and hurried Rygel out of the Pod to join the Shrike.  
  
Malika made her way from command back to her quarters to change, she and Andar had been told of the whole situation. As much as she hated to admit it, after all she had only been on Moya a short while, she cared what happened to those here, even the Shrike. "Hey, it must be a good trait for a priestess," she thought. It had been a while since she had cared what happened to anyone. Because of her isolation, after losing her mother, she had learned to keep to herself and not get attached to others. She finished changing and looked in a mirror before leaving her quarters, she could even tell the concern in her own face, she was afraid they wouldn't reach the others in time, or they could even be dead already. As she was walking along she literally ran into Andar.  
"I'm sorry," she said.  
Andar - who had been exploring Moya - was somewhat startled when he bumped into Malika. He had been completely focused on his surroundings that he hadn't been watching where he was going. He looked at Malika, a look of embarrassment on his face.  
"No. I am at fault. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. It's just that I'm still a little overwhelmed by all of this."  
"No, It's partly my fault. I wasn't paying attention either," she said. "I'm worried about the others. I don't usually worry, so I'm not paying attention," she replied. "I am sorry for all that's happened to you recently. I know what having your world ripped away from you can feel like," she said. 


	7. Chapter 6

D'Argo stalked down Moya's corridors, wondering aimlessly, frustrated and angry. He had been on the command tier, but there was nothing he could do. Pilot and Zhaan seemed to prefer to wait for a chance to go in when the Peacekeepers wouldn't see them. He had to do something, anything, to take his mind off the Peacekeepers and the group down on the planet. As much as he hated to admit it, he actually cared about Chiana and Rygel. She was annoying and exasperating and he was pompous and useless, but they were still his friends... and he had been through too much with them as it was. He wasn't quite sure about Berret, though. Something about him made the Luxan's blood boil. He told himself it was just his thoughts that somebody who obviously kept so many secrets was alone with Chiana and Rygel, but he knew that wasn't it. He stopped abruptly and said in a voice that betrayed his tension, "Pilot? What's happening with the Peacekeepers? Is it clear to go in yet?"  
"No, Ka D'Argo," came back Pilot's monotone voice. "Any reaction from our part would be picked up on their scanners. But as for what's happening, Moya tells me that someone has sent ships down to the ice moon. They appear to be conducting search patterns over its surface."  
"Frell!" D'Argo exploded, his booming voice surprising even himself. "Have the DRDs prepare one of the Prowlers, Pilot."  
"But why?" Pilot sounded confused.  
"Just do it!" D'Argo barked, and then walked down the corridors toward the Prowlers' docking area. He didn't have much experience in Prowlers, but he had been familiarizing himself with the controls, and he felt he could fly, but not in combat. But as far as he was concerned, the combat wouldn't be in space. It seemed like forever before he finally arrived at the bay, climbing into Aeryn's Prowler. He laid his weapon beside himself, converting it to rifle form.  
"D'Argo! What are you doing?" Zhaan's voice came over the comm-system, sounding concerned. D'Argo didn't reply, he had no time to make excuses. He had to rescue his friends.  
  
Malika was talking to Andar when a semi-frantic Zhaan contacted her. "What's wrong?" she asked.   
"D'argo is taking Aeryn's Prowler. He's going after the others, how close are you to the hanger bay?" she asked.   
"I'll try to get there as fast as I can," Malika said. "Come on, Andar!" Malika said as she took off down the corridor.   
  
The Enforcer forged ahead leaving Chiana to carry Rygel through the blowing snow. Berret made it to the ships well in advanced of the other two. The first ship he inspected looked pretty much in a state of disrepair, the second was little better, but better still then the first. While waiting for Chiana and the Hynerian to catch up, he walked around the better of the two crafts giving it the best pre-flight check he could. He had just walked under the front landing gear when a maintenance access hatch slammed open above him.  
"Don't frelling move!" said a voice.   
Looking upward, the Shrike saw a man holding a Heavy Pulse-rifle, the man needing two hands to hold the big weapon level. Berret could hear the tiny whine coming from it, indicating the weapon was fully charged and ready to fire.  
Berret cursed at himself. How could he be so stupid to not think that the brigands didn't leave someone behind to guard their ships? Now the man had the tactical advantage and the superior weapon. The Shrike resigned himself to having lost. The nervous man would surly fire his weapon any microt and obliterate the assassin were he stood.  
"Don't you FRELLING move, you bastard!" he said again, jabbing the barrel of the rifle in his direction for emphasis. "So much as breathe heavy and I'll...." he started, then a ball of light shot over Berret's head and disappeared into the head of the man holding the large Pulse-rifle, snapping it back and making his eyes cross. The man stiffened for a microt and then rolled out of the hatchway, falling face down into the snow beside the landing strut. Berret turned to look behind him to see Chiana still holding her smoking Pulse-rife, The Hynerian standing in the snow beside her. He turned back ignoring the body and climbed up into the craft.  
"Humph!" said Rygel looking up at Chiana. "Not even so much as a thank you," he said.  
  
"Oh Drez!" said Rygel after looking around the inside of the ship, "I was afraid of this."  
"What? What's wrong?" asked the Nebari.   
"This isn't a open space type craft. It's a drop ship. Only good for atmospheric flight and limited orbital capabilities," he explained. "The engine needs air to fire and in orbit only has basic thrusters. This ship is meant to be dropped off and picked up by a much larger mother ship."  
Rygel check a few gages. "Those farging dren-heads only have enough thruster fuel left to put us into a high orbit. Once there, we won't be able to land or go anywhere else for that matter."  
Berret had been staring out a port window while the other two checked over the cockpit of the craft. He turned to them, the sliver tint in his eyes fading again.   
"Then I suggest we depart this moon before the mother ship returns and catches us here," he said in a flat voice.  
"Are you addled? Didn't you hear what I said?" asked the Hynerian as if everyone but him had gone mad.  
"Do you want to stay here and wait for them?" asked Chiana.  
Rygel swallowed hard at the thought. "No," he said and hit the engine start switch.  
  
Unlike a Transport Pod, the drop ship took time to boost from the moon. Once they were free of the moon's atmosphere the main engine cut out from lack of oxygen. Rygel fired the thrusters to nudge the craft up into its minimum orbit.   
"It'll take a few microns to reach orbit, this piece of dren is slower then trying to get Chiana to do any work," commented the small being. Chiana scowled in displeasure at the Hynerian's insult but chose not to dignify the dig with a retort.  
"I'll try and find the comm and see if it works. If Moya's still in the area we can contact them," she said instead. Berret had gone back to silently staring out the view port, ignoring the conversation. With Rygel busy trying to pilot the sluggish ship, she decided it would be a good time to talk to her friend.  
"Berret?" she asked, attempting to get his attention by lightly pulling at his arm.  
"Leave me alone, Chiana," he finally whispered, not threateningly, but almost sadly.  
"Hey, I thought we were going to talk to each other from now on? Remember, no secrets," she said quietly, but looking up at him hopefully. "Come on, talk to me. What happened to you?" she kept at him.  
"This is different, this is very... dangerous," he said choosing the word carefully. He explained to her what had happened as briefly as he could. "I don't know how to stop it or how long I can keep it under control. Its there... always talking... always whispering to me. Please, just go away and leave me alone," he finished talking, almost begging her.  
  
Chiana promised that they would help him when they returned to Moya, and then went on to find the comm panel. She moved back up to the cockpit and passed by Berret again who now seemed to be carrying on a conversation with himself. She could see his lips moving in his reflection in the view port's dura-glass and hear his low mutterings. She dropped into the seat beside Rygel and started to stare out the front view port herself, trying to think of a way to help her friend. Rygel sat in silence with her for a few microns. Finally he turned to her and said seriously,   
"You know... the others won't stand for him on board Moya in that condition... especially the Luxan." Chiana absently nodded her agreement but remained silent.   
"I know you've grown attached to your pet, but it might be best if he didn't make it back.... if we sort of put him out of his misery so to speak."   
Chiana realized that for a change Rygel was not being spiteful or mean, but only speaking of what might have to be done.  
"Number one..." she said calmly. "He's not a 'pet'. Number two, do you want to be the one to try and do it?" she asked. Without thinking, Rygel reached up and rubbed the spot on his head where the Shrike's blades almost touched it.   
"Uhmmm, no. I think I'd rather not," he admitted. A light on the control panel lit, and a tone sounded.  
"We've reached the plotted orbit. There's not enough fuel left to maneuver for reentry. We can boost to a higher orbit or break orbit and drift... that's it," said the Hynerian with a tone of finality.   
Chiana rose from her seat. "I'll try the comm unit then," she told him and moved over to the panel.  
  
Aeryn slowly opened her eyes and tried to move, only to have a sharp pain shoot through her arm.   
"Ah!" she involuntarily cried out between clenched teeth.  
Zhaan quickly turned to see Sebacean moving and saw the look of agony on her face. She went over to her bedside.   
"Aeryn dear, it's best that you don't move. Your injury will take some time to heal," she said trying to get the ex-Peacekeeper to lie back down.  
"Where am I? What happened to me?" Aeryn asked in confusion.  
"You were injured by a pulse blast down on the planet. D'argo said that you two had been ambushed," answered Zhaan.  
"We went down for the coordinates to where Chiana and the others are, on an ice moon. Did we rescue them yet?" Aeryn asked.  
"No, not yet. Pilot said there is a transport convoy ahead of us and it's not safe for us to alert them to our presence."  
"Are they Peacekeeper?"  
"We don't know that, dear. I'm sorry," Zhaan answered placing a hand lightly on Aeryn's injured shoulder.  
"So what do we do in the mean time?"  
"We have been waiting. Pilot says it will be several arns before can emerge," Zhaan said sadly.  
"Where are the others?" asked Aeryn  
"Crichton and D'argo are up in Command... and Malika and Andar, I believe, are getting something to eat. Which reminds me, you must be hungry, my dear."  
"I'm fine, Zhaan. I just have to get up to Command. Crichton and D'argo may need my help," said Aeryn as she began to try and get out of bed.  
"Aeryn, it is too soon. You have lost a great deal of blood and you are very weak. It is best if you stay here and rest. Crichton and D'argo will be fine," Zhaan said, urging the ex-Peacekeeper to return to lying back down. Aeryn began to protest until a wave of dizziness overcame her and she thought it would be best if she did as the Delvian told her.  
"Okay, maybe you're right. I could use a little rest. Just for a little bit though. Let me know the microt anything happens will you, Zhaan?" Aeryn said as she slowly began to close her eyes as she suddenly became very drowsy.  
"I will do that, dear. Rest now and I will let the others know that you are awake. Crichton has asked me to notify him the microt you woke. Will it be alright with you to let him know?" Zhaan asked.  
"Yes, Zhaan... that's fine," Aeryn replied tiredly.  
"John?" Zhaan said opening her comm channel.  
"Yeah, Zhaan?" he answered instantly.  
"Aeryn is awake now if you would like to see her."   
"How is she Zhaan? Is she alright?" John asked anxiously.  
"I'm fine, Crichton," Aeryn said with a smile as she answered the question herself.  
"Aeryn, it's good to hear your voice," John said, the smile evident in his tone.  
"Likewise," she said softly.  
"I'll be there in a few microts. Can't wait to see you, sunshine," John said. Now he was grinning. It was the best news he'd heard all day.  
  
As the Prowler slowly came to life, D'Argo growled with impatience. The faster he could get to the ice moon, the better. Moya's long range passive scans alerted them that two crafts had been dropped off by a mother ship and were running search patterns over the moon that the Transport Pod was suppose to be on.  
The mother ship moved off as the PK convoy came into scanner range and the Luxan knew he had to act fast if they were to recover their lost shipmates. Two drop-ships full of enemy soldiers were odds nobody could brave without divine providence, and he knew Moya's crew had already had their fare share of that already.   
"Pilot! I'm launching the Prowler!" D'Argo said, and after a handful of microts pulled the Prowler out of Moya's landing bay and away, accelerating into space on an oblique trajectory for the ice moon. He watched until Moya disappeared around the planetary mass she was hiding behind, and then prepared to boost the attack-ship into a run for his destination.  
A voice crackled into his cockpit comm system as he arrived in orbit around the moon, "Unidentified Prowler... Identify yourself! Who are you and what are you doing here?"  
  
Trying his best to sound less Luxan, D'Argo bluffed, "Peacekeeper scout vessel 965." He hoped that would make some sense in their codebooks. "Investigating fugitives reported in this system." He nosed the Prowler into trajectory, looking around for the ship that had hailed him. What he saw were two ships on his scanners. One possibly the mother ship some distance away and the other a dropship that had just made orbit. He didn't have a prayer of fighting the mother ship, not with his Prowler skills, but a feint on the dropship might give the mother ship a few gray hairs.   
He swooped toward the dropship. "Unidentified drop-ship, why are you coming out of orbit?" he asked, trying to sound as demandingly arrogant as a Peacekeeper. It was rare enough of an event to give him a good excuse for closing in. He still sounded distinctly Luxan, he thought, but frell it... who knew if there wasn't a Luxan or two on the Peacekeeper force? He kept his distance and waited for an answer.  
"Returning to mother ship after successful mission," came a voice over the comm. D'Argo shook his head in disbelief. Now he was hearing Rygel everywhere! "Back off, Prowler," barked the voice. He hadn't been imagining it. Rygel had somehow gotten aboard the dropship, and where the pint-size ex-ruler was, Chiana and Berret were sure to be, too. It dawned on D'Argo that they must have somehow managed to hijack the enemy ship.  
"Pilot," he said loudly over a secured channel, knowing that the other two ships couldn't hear him when he was communicating with Moya. "That's Rygel aboard the drop-ship, and the other two are probably with him. What are our chances of pulling them out of there before that mother ship figures out what's going on. And Pilot...?"  
"Yes, Ka D'Argo?" asked Pilot, finally able to put in a word.  
"Tell Aeryn I'm sorry for borrowing the Prowler, but someone better get in the other one and get down here. Ready Moya to pick up that drop-ship, things are going to get messy out here."  
  
Malika was waiting with her prowler. Pilot had told her to wait, and he would tell her what to do after communicating with D'argo. Andar was standing off to the side, looking horribly out of place.   
"If you want, I could try to teach you about this stuff," she said motioning around. "I don't know if I would succeed, but you need start learning sometime," she said. Andar nodded gratefully.  
"Thank you. Also, I want to thank you for helping me since I came here. I appreciate it."   
"It's not a problem. It's also nice to have someone to talk to, to tell the truth I don't really talk to anyone around here except for Zhaan," Malika said. "And I'm usually only talking to her when I'm learning new things to become a priestess... and she has made it obvious that she still has her doubts that I could ever do it."   
  
"What is that farhbot Luxan doing?" exclaimed Rygel. "He'll get us shot to pieces for sure!"   
"He might think that the Peacekeeper Fleet transport is the mother ship for this drop-ship," said Chiana.  
"Well, now we're not going to be able to bluff our way out of it, the fleet transport is demanding clearance codes," snapped the Hynerian. "We're frelled now!"  
Berret had left the view port and moved forward up into the cockpit. Chiana could see sweat on his brow even in the climate controlled cabin of the ship.  
"Perhaps not," said Berret shakily, the voice in his head giving him in idea. "Patch me through on all local channels," he said. Chiana flipped a switch and gave him the go-ahead with a silent nod.  
"Prowler Pilot..." he began in a stronger tone, "this is a AerynZhaan code priority... are you the escort codenamed... Tentacle Head? Over," making up the names as he went along.  
D'argo knew Berret's voice and growled at the Shrike's implied insult. He hit the send key and responded, thinking two can play this game.  
"Affirmative transport... confirm your codename.... Backstabbing Slug. Over."  
Despite the mental stress the assassin was feeling, it was good to get a raise out of the Luxan.   
"Affirm, Tentacle Head. We are standing by for recovery."  
"Are you two done now?" asked Rygel. "Do you think that Peacekeeper ship is going to buy all that Tentacle Head, Backstabber dren?"  
"No," said the Shrike, "that part is yet to come."  
As if on cue, the fleet transport broke into the opened channel, "Attention both ships off our starboard bow, this is the Peacekeeper Fleet Escort-transport 'Sirius'. You will stand down operations and identify yourselves."  
  
The Shrike broke in immediately, "Attention Sirius. Who is the officer in command?"  
"This is Captain Bellario. Who is this?" he demanded. "Identify yourself."  
"Who this is, is unimportant. What is important is that you are interfering with a covert Disruptor operation. You are hereby ordered to desist under article 9-0 tango, operation code: alpha-serria johee 0098... please check and confirm." Berret stood back and waited.  
A few microns later the captain was back on the channel.  
"The codes confirm, sir. We... I mean, I am truly sorry for the misunderstanding...." he started but Berret cut him off before he could continue the apology.   
"I quite understand, Captain. You were simply doing your duty... but for now, you will wipe all logs and records of this encounter immediately. You will return to your escort duties with the fleet and you and your crew are forbidden to ever speak of this incident on pain of death. Is that completely understood, Captain?" asked the Shrike.  
"Completely, sir!" said Captain Bellario.  
"Good!" responded Berret and clicked that channel closed.  
He sat heavily into the nearest seat, the strain of keeping the voice at bay while he bluffed the captain showing on his face.  
"What was all those codes?" asked Chiana in wonder.  
"They were something the Syndicate got a hold of a few cycles ago," Berret answered while rubbing at his temple, "And I believe I had to use then at one time. They are old but I thought an ordinary transport captain would not have a high enough clearance to know they were old. I believe it would be best if you tight-beamed D'argo and asked him to tow us back to Moya," he finished before gazing back off into the nearest view port.  
Microts later he began to argue with the voice again.  
  
"Do you believe they fell for that?" asked John to Zhaan as they listened in and the Escort Captain clicked off the open comm channel.   
"It may be possible," said the Delvian. "Most Peacekeeper captains assigned to escort duty are usually of low standing and are often kept out of the command loop by their superiors."  
"I hope you're right, Blue," said Crichton still not believing their luck.  
D'argo broke in on a tight beam comm channel, "John, Zhaan... are you there?"  
"Go ahead, D'argo," said Zhaan.  
"I have the drop-ship in tow and am heading back to Moya now. Please inform Pilot to be ready with the docking wed and to starburst as soon as the others debark," said the Luxan.  
"Already done, Dargo," said John. "Put your tail in high gear and get back here so we can blow this pop stand."  
  
"Dargo did what?" shouted Aeryn.  
"He's taken your prowler down to the ice moon," replied Pilot.  
"Pilot prepare Malika's prowler for me. D'argo's going to need backup in case he encounters the Peacekeepers," Aeryn said as she strained to get up from the bed. Her arm was wrapped in a sling and she winced slightly from the stiffness of it.  
"Malika is already standing by her ship," responded Pilot.  
"I don't think so, Aeryn. You're not going anywhere," John interrupted as he entered the medical unit. "Beside, the escort was already in contact with them and they were able to bluff them. D'argo's towing them in right now as we speak."  
"Look, John... I'm all right. I have to go. The escort might still come back for a second check."   
"Not in your condition, Aeryn. I'll go," John said blocking Aeryn from leaving the room.  
"Aeryn, John's right. You're in no condition to fly," Zhaan managed to cut in.  
"She's right, Aeryn. You're still too weak. I'll go help D'argo if it'll make you feel better," John said placing a hand on Aeryn's wounded arm.  
"Very well... but I'm going with you," Aeryn demanded stubbornly.  
"Aeryn!" John started but Aeryn cut him off.  
"No arguments, John. We go together or I go alone. I'm not too weak to give you a pantak jab," she said with a smirk.   
"Alright you win, but I'm driving," said John.  
"Fine. Let's go. We're running out of time," Aeryn said slowly walking out of the medical unit.  
"Ladies first," John gestured for Aeryn to lead the way. Aeryn staggered a bit as she walked and John hurriedly walked beside her and held onto her to support her.  
"Goddess be with you both," Zhaan said as she watched her friends leave. 


	8. Chapter 7

"Zhaan, why can't I go? It's my Prowler," Malika said over the comm. She had been arguing with Zhaan about it since she told her that John and Aeryn would be taking her craft.   
"Malika, remember you last bit of training? Control your temper, your not always the best suited to the job," the older Delvian said.   
"Fine! Tell them it's ready. I won't be there when they get here," she said as she cut the communication.  
"Andar, want to come with me for a drink? I fell like one right now. I got some good stuff I brought with me when I came on board hidden in the mess," she said.   
Andar nodded, considering that it was best to agree with anything the angry woman wanted at that point.  
"Considering the week I've had, a little refreshment is most definitely in order."   
"I thought you might say that," Malika said as she led him to the Center Chamber mess.   
"I think it's here," she said a few microns later as she searched through the back of a cupboard. "Yes, here it is," she said as she pulled the dusty bottle out. "This is a rare vintage," she said as she poured some of it into two cups. "Here," she said handing him one. "To a future that treats us better than the past has," she said with a hint of sarcasm. Andar raised his cup and clicked it against hers.  
"To new friends. Especially those who save your life," the Sebacean man added. He took a sip. It was definitely good.   
Malika took a sip from her own cup. Her mother was right, nothing better in the universe. She knew Zhaan would be upset with her, She was constantly telling her to control her temper. "I don't know if I can do it, mother," she thought. "Oh, well, there's nothing more I can do about it now."   
"So Andar... how are you liking Moya so far? Nice? Fun? Or just too overwhelming?" she asked him.   
  
D'argo maneuvered the Prowler over the drifting drop-ship and then fired the Magnetic Grapple. The grapple hit the craft just above the cockpit and the powerful magnet latched onto its hull. The Luxan slowly throttled the Prowler's engines to take the slack out of the short cable connecting the two ships. Not being a skilled Prowler pilot there was still a jerk as the cable went taunt.  
"Dren!" complained Rygel as his head was snapped backwards at the unexpected shutter. "Who taught that Luxan how to fly, much less perform a cable rescue," he grumbled as their ship stopped drifting and began to creep along behind the Prowler.   
"Would you rather get out and walk back to Moya?" asked Chiana as she strapped herself in to a seat.   
"It might be preferable to letting that lumbering Luxan tow us into another moon," Rygel replied.  
In the Prowler, D'argo snarled in frustration at their slow progress. The attack ship was meant for speed and agility, not attempting to drag a lifeless hulk four times it's size and over ten times it's weight any considerable distance. The engines were redlined as it was. Knowing Aeryn would kill him... several times over, if anything happened to her Prowler while in his unauthorized care - he backed them down. Once the ship behind him was moving, momentum would keep it traveling at the same speed until another outside force acted on it. He keyed his comm on tight-band, "Pilot, I'm bring the craft with Rygel and the others back now. Prepare the docking web to receive and land it in the hanger bay."  
Pilot's voice came back to him, "We are waiting your return Ka'D'Argo. Aeryn and Commander Crichton are on their way to meet you in Malika's Prowler."  
"What is Aeryn doing up, much less out in a Prowler with Crichton?" demanded the Luxan.  
"That I do not know as they failed to enlighten me as to the reason," said Pilot  
"Ah... Pilot?" asked D'argo more subdued, "Is Aeryn... umm... angry?"  
"I think it is safe to say that 'angry' may be somewhat of an understatement," Pilot came back.  
"Oh dren," murmured D'argo under his breath, wishing he had borrowed Malika's Prowler instead. A Pa'u in training might be a little more forgiving then the ex-Peacekeeper when it came to their attack ships he reasoned to himself.  
  
"You okay back there?" John asked.  
"I'm fine, Crichton. Just watch what you're doing," Aeryn snarled.  
"How's your arm?" he asked with concern.  
"It's a little stiff but it'll be fine. Listen, John... we can talk about this later. Let's just find D'argo," Aeryn said trying to change the subject.   
"So far there's no sign of him," said John straining his eyes thru the occulars.   
"We are on the right trajectory, aren't we?" asked Aeryn.  
"Yep, that's what pilot said," John answered. "Wait, what's that up ahead?" he asked.  
"Here, give me the occulars," John took them off and handed them to Aeryn. "That's my Prowler. What's that behind it?" Aeryn asked giving John back the occulars. "I swear I'm going to kill D'argo if he let anything happen to my Prowler.  
"It looks like he's pulling something along behind it, a small transport of some kind. Want me to get him on the horn?" John asked.  
" 'On the horn,' Crichton?" Aeryn said in confusion.  
"Do you want me to make contact with him?" he asked.  
"Wait... let me patch in a frequency to my Prowler only. We don't want to let anyone else know we're in this sector," said Aeryn as she hit a couple of the controls in Malika's Prowler. "Okay, they're open."   
"D'argo, it's John. Come in," he started.  
"John, I'm here. I have Chiana and the others in the transport behind me. It's a little heavy and I may need some help bringing them in," D'argo said.  
"Hang on, Darg. We're coming," said John.  
"Here... give me the occulars," demanded Aeryn. John gave them to her again and she put them on and spoke into the microphone. "D'argo... you are one dead Luxan when we get back to Moya. You better hope that there's not a scratch on my Prowler..." Aeryn said as John cut her off. He took the occulars from her and put them back on.  
"Aeryn, you can kill D'argo when we get back, but now is not the time for this. We have to help bring them in so will you chill out?" John said covering up the microphone so as not to let D'argo hear their conversation. Aeryn just glared at him.  
"John, you still there?" Dargo asked as he could somewhat overhear his and Aeryn's conversation.  
"I'm still here, big guy. Sorry about that. We're on our way," said John.  
"I take it she's not too happy about me taking her Prowler."   
"You hit the nail right on the head, big guy... but we can talk about that later," John said.   
"Yeah, that's if I'm still around later," D'argo responded. He could still hear Aeryn mumbling angrily to herself in the background.   
John smiled to himself thinking of Aeryn giving D'argo her famous pantak jab and knocking him out cold. If anyone could lie out this Luxan, it would be Aeryn. "Never underestimate the strength of an angry Sebacean woman," John said to himself as they moved closer and closer to Aeryn's Prowler.  
  
The Shrike barely noticed the lurch as the Prowler took the old Drop Ship in tow, trapped as he was in conflict with the voice in his mind. The battle of wills had step up as the voice flooded his mind with images and information. Making him relive his past as a killer a hundred times worse then anything he'd experienced in the memory sessions with Zhaan. The voice reeled off names, dates, places, and detailed instructions in a non-ending stream. Any noise or stray bit of conversation from the cockpit was picked up and added to the mix, spawning new images and data, which at times blended together and cease to make any coherent sense. Whenever he tried to tune it out or not pay it any consideration the voice became insistent, demanding his attention.  
He was becoming weary of constantly being on guard, if he relaxed he'd find that the voice somehow was able to guide his body. At one point in the trip he slipped and let his mind wander off trying to ignore the mental images and the harping voice with all it's meaninglessly jumbled information. Chiana had loudly snapped something at Rygel and Berret came back to himself just as he was about to step into the cockpit area. The blade on his right arm fully extended, but he had not remembered opening it. The voice screamed at his hesitation.   
"Eradicate the witnesses!" it demanded.  
In horror he realized that because of his lack of vigilance, he had been about to kill the Pixie and Rygel. Berret silently glided back away from the cockpit before his crewmates noticed him there. Shaken, he wrapped his cloak tightly around him. Leaning his back against a bulkhead he allowed himself to slowly slide downward until he was seated on the deck. Feeling more like a lost child then an assassin at that microt, he idly noticed that the wound in his thigh had started to bleed once more. The microbes still had not begun to repair the damage as they should have. Chiana had offered to dress the wound but as it turned out he had wisely refused the offer, instinctively knowing it was too dangerous for the others to be around him in this condition. He closed his eyes as a particularly bloody image flashed across his mind's eye, the voice droning on its endless lecture of information to a background soundtrack of cries and screams.  
He opened his eyes and came to a conclusion that he would have to leave Moya as quickly as he could after they returned. The Wraith would be his new home for a while until he figured out what he could do... if anything could be done about it.  
"One problem at a time," thought Berret.  
Chiana snapped something else at the Hynerian, and Berret found it highly ironic that after confessing his 'sins' to her, he was going to lose her anyway. He had to admit; he'd grown somewhat attached to the others, even the Luxan and the Hynerian.  
But the Nebari would always be special to him. His first friend when he woke up in this strange place and time. Parting ways was better then the alternative he told himself. Something wet ran down one of his cheeks. Wiping at it with a forefinger he found a single tear. He leaned his head back against the bulkhead behind him. At least finally he was experiencing emotions and knew the cause. The voice called for his attention again and he closed his eyes and gave it.  
  
The Prowler towed the drop-ship close enough for Pilot to snare it with the docking web and guide it aboard, followed closely by the Prowlers. As the craft settled the hatch cycled open and Chiana and Rygel rushed out followed closely by the silent Shrike. D'argo leaped out of the parked Prowler and immediately yelled out, "Pilot! Jettison the drop-ship now!"  
With a grating nose the ship lifted off the deck and reversed it's course back out of Moya's hanger bay.  
Zhaan was already in the bay to greet her crewmates home.   
"Pip! Sparky! J.B.! shouted John as he and Aeryn left their ship and moved to meet them. "God, we're glad to see you guys," he said as he got closer, then he suddenly backed off as if he hit a wall. "...And smell you guys... phew! You all need a shower... bad!"  
"You never smell so good yourself," complained Rygel, "...so stop talking."  
"Is everyone all right? Are any of you injured?" asked Zhaan anxiously.  
Chiana and Rygel exchanged looks. "Well, we're basically all right, but...." she cut off as her gaze went to Berret.  
For the first time they noticed the man had been totally silent, neither talking nor exchanging greeting with anyone. Crichton stepped around Chiana and Rygel to peer at the Shrike and was started to see his condition. The man was covered in dried blood and John could see fresh blood slowly dripping from his thigh. In a low voice Chiana explained to Zhaan "He's been shot through the leg with a pulse bolt and refused to let anyone look at it."   
Berret looked up as if suddenly becoming aware he was the topic of discussion. His dead eyes took in the group for a microt, and then he spun on a boot heel and stalked away, his black cloak swirling behind him.   
"Oh no," said John. "Why do I get the feeling this isn't good."  
With the man gone from the hanger bay, The Nebari woman was free to tell the others what had happened.  
When she was finished telling her tale, John said, "I knew this wasn't going to be good. He's hearing voices now? I hope he isn't doing what they tell him."  
"If this is true," said D'argo, he's more dangerous now then ever."  
Zhaan had been silent until then, having been deep in thought. She halted the discussion by asking Chiana.  
"Tell me again, Chiana dear... what exactly did he do before going out to meet those thugs."  
Chiana explained again, stopping only to clarify one point or another of the Delvian's questions.  
"What is it Zhaan?" asked John. "Do you know something?"  
"I'm not sure yet. I have to check my records. All of you, don't do anything until I look at something," she said to the group.  
"It's not us doing anything I'm worried about... its him," stated John.  
"Pilot?" called Zhaan, "Where is Berret now?"  
Pilot showed up on the holo-comm at her call. "Berret is in his quarters," he reported.  
"Monitor him, Pilot. Let us know if he leaves or does anything... strange," said Zhaan as she hurried out of the bay to her lab.  
"Define 'strange,' Blue?" asked Crichton to the Delvian's back, but not getting an answer.  
Chiana watched her go; silently hoping she would find a way to help her friend.  
  
Berret went straight to his quarters. Ignoring the voice's demand that he return to the hanger bay and kill all the witnesses. Once safely in his room he began to gather his few possessions, getting them ready to transfer to the Wraith. The slight change in the Leviathan's normal sounds told him that she was getting ready to Starburst. The jump came and went with the usual wave of slight disorientation that accompanies hyperspace travel.  
Berret almost went directly to his ship but catching a glance at his gore-splattered attire in the mirror surface of his room, he went instead to the shower unit and stepped under the spray of water fully clothed. He thoroughly wash down the cloak and set it aside to dry. He next detached his armor piece by piece and cleaned them, followed by the ballistic battle suit underneath and his boots. When he was done he finally washed himself and set about tending the wound in his thigh.  
  
Zhaan found what she was looking for in the data almost right away. Checking with Pilot, she found out that Berret was packing his belongings, obviously intending to leave Moya. She hurriedly gathered and mixed several chemicals and herbs into an injector. The Delvian debated calling the others to advise them of her plan but decided that it would be too dangerous to involve them at that micron. She kicked off her sandals and on bare feet she traveled the hallways between tiers until she was outside Berret's quarters. Keying her comm she asked Pilot to open his door. The door slid silently open to reveal the man with his back to her, packing his armor into a bag. He had changed into a Peacekeeper issue day uniform. Zhaan cleared her mind of self and brought back the memories they'd shared in the memory sessions. This way she hoped the Shrike would not sense her presences until it was too late for him to react. The Delvian Priestess glided silently up behind the ex-assassin, jabbing him in the back of his neck with the injector. The contents shot into him before he was able to turn. Twisting around grabbing at the place on his neck where she'd injected him, Berret realized who it was. The look of betrayal on his face was apparent.   
"You?" he said accusingly in a slurred voice as his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor of his room.   
Sighing with relief, Zhaan said, "Forgive me," to the unconscious man and then tapped her comm. "I need some help getting Berret to the Med-bay," she told whoever was listening.  
  
Berret lay in a deep sleep on the med-table as Zhaan explained to the others what she found.   
"It's technically part of the collar. The collar's mainframe computer carried information that was needed for him to do what the Syndicate wanted. There had to be a way for the mechanical part of the collar to interface with Berret's brain to rely that information. So it intergraded pathways for itself into parts of the brain that control sight, sound, and speech. When Berret meditated he was in a sense asking that part of his brain for instructions. With the collar no longer attached the pathways did the best they could to supply that information. They tapped into his memories and pieced together data and fed it back to him in a loop, but without the collar to oversee the process there was no control and no way to stop it once it started."  
"So in a sense the voices were just a ghost, something he'd heard or done in the past?" asked John.  
"In a sense. Yes, John," Zhaan relented.  
"Can you do something to stop it?" asked Chiana.  
"That might be a problem because of the microbes. They've established now that the pathways are supposed to be there and active. I have some herbs and drugs that will shut down the pathway synopsizes but the microbes will only repair them and keep them active," said the Delvian.  
"What about cold?" asked Chiana. "On the moon the microbes seemed to go into hibernation. His injuries didn't heal almost at all after he'd been exposed to the outside temperatures. Maybe we can put them to sleep so you can do something."  
"You want to freeze him?" asked Crichton stunned.  
"It doesn't have to be that cold," said Chiana looking down at her sleeping friend.  
"You may be on to something, Chiana. I had wondered why the wound in his thigh had not began healing," said Zhaan. "We can use thermal control blankets to lower his body temperature. When the microbes go into hibernation, I'll inject him with the drugs... after that the only thing we can do is wait and see what happens."  
Within an arn Berret was wrapped in thermal blankets and his core body temperature dropped far enough for Zhaan to administer the treatment. The others went back to their shipboard duties, leaving Chiana and Zhaan alone in the Med-bay.   
"Do you think this will work?" she asked the Priestess now that they were alone.   
"I hope so, Chiana dear, " Zhaan answered. "But even if it does, it'll won't be a cure all for his condition."  
"What do you mean?" asked the Nebari alarmed. Zhaan took a seat next to her before explaining.   
"Those pathways however artificial, are a part of his nervous system now. He's going to have to learn at some point to control them. The mind is like a muscle, it has to be exercised and trained," she said with a smile. "Now that we know about them it will be a simple matter for him to learn how to control them, it's basically the same thing as learning to speak, sing, or read."   
"I hope you're right," said Chiana.  
  
Berret came slowly awake, and then shivered. "Why the Hezmana was he so cold?" he thought through the fog his mind seemed to have become. It took a few microts for him to decide it was important enough for him to look around and see where he was. He discovered sitting hentas away from him sleeping soundly in a chair was the Pixie, her head lying on a corner of his med-bed. That's where he was, the Med-bay. He was cold because somebody had wrapped him in thermal control blankets and the temperature controls seem to be set just above freezing. It suddenly dawned on him then that the voice was silent. He paused for a moment to listen. Silence - the voice was gone. There were no more gory images parading through his mind and no meaningless data demanding attention or forcing its way into his thoughts. He sighed heavily in relief. The cold blankets must have something to do with the treatment for his ailment. He stared at the ceiling for several microns and enjoyed the peace inside his mind. He glanced over at the sleeping Chiana. She looked so content laying there with her head propped up on her arms, that there was only one thing to do in that situation.  
He slapped both his freezing cold palms against her cheeks.  
Chiana awoke with a start and a scream. Rising so fast that she tumbled out of her chair. She clawed her way upright again, confused at what had just happened. She got to her feet and looked around for an intruder before realizing she heard weak laughter coming from the med-bed. She looked down opened mouthed until she realized what the burst of humor meant.   
"You're okay," she said to herself smiling, forgetting about the prank. "You're okay!" she said louder, grinning ear to ear at him.  
  
Chiana made Berret eat while Zhaan examined him and gave him an explanation as to what happened to him. He was having a rather difficult time trying to pay attention to what the Delvian was telling him while the Pixie shoved food cubes into his mouth. He was so relieved that he wasn't going mad that he was in an unusually happy mood. In fact, he couldn't remember feeling this good the entire time he'd been aboard the Leviathan. He even found himself enjoying the two women's consideration, where as before it made him uncomfortable to be the center of anyone's attention except Chiana's... and he really was only truly at ease with her when they were alone.  
Zhaan had just finished up with him and was putting her equipment away when Chiana called his attention to a big dessert cube she was holding for him. He was thinking of asking Zhaan one more question when he opened his mouth for Chiana to feed him the cube... then too late he realized his danger. The Nebari girl smeared the soft and moist cube all over his face. Chiana burst into laughter while Zhaan obviously fought the urge but finally had to give in at the surprised look on the Shrike's cube covered face.   
"That's what you get for playing with my cheeks!" Chiana playfully scolded.   
Berret wiped as much as the cube off his face as possible, then shrugging his shoulders, popped the mess into his mouth, deciding that it still tasted good anyway. He licked a spot off his fingers and smiled up at her and chuckled. After a few microts he stared into her eyes and with a small smile still on his lips he said sincerely,   
"But your cheeks are my favorite part."  
Chiana looked down at him, now not sure how to take his comment, but knowing there was something more to the meaning then just the words. 


End file.
